Dead As Dead Can Be
by Aeternus.Flamma
Summary: [Post All Together Dead] Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, of course.
1. Chapter 1

_**Dead As Dead Can Be **_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T [for now**_

_**[Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

* * *

"So, Sookie," Amelia started slowly as she placed the now smoothly brushed Bob on a kitchen chair, "are you ready to tell me everything that went on?" I sighed and brushed some hair out of my eyes with my arm. My hand had a yellow rubber glove, which was wet and dirty from scrubbing multiple surfaces in my kitchen and living room. 

"Mia," I sighed, using my newest nickname for her, "I'm not sure if I'll ever be completely read to tell you everything. You already know that Quinn and I had a few issues, all solved, I was betrayed by numerous vampires, and I'm non not-so-good terms with my only other telepathic friend. I barely survived a large scale attack by the Fellowship of the Sun, and it's just stressful to even think about, okay?" She shrugged and nodded Amelia the witch had tried many times to get information from me, and each time, I said the same thing. She understood for the most part. She seemed to understand how little I wanted to talk about my latest experience with vamps.

I would never work for _their _kind again. I planned to avoid any undead beings for as long as I could. Tossing down my dirty rag, I stood from my uncomfortable kneeling position on my kitchen floor. "I've got to get ready to go to work. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"No, you probably won't. I'm already pretty tired from cleaning all day, so I'll be in bed early tonight," Amelia didn't say anything else. I distinctly got the impression that she was a bit upset that I wouldn't share details with her. I didn't even have to go into her thoughts for that one. As I prepared to go down to my own room, Bob cocked his head to the side and meowed at me.

"I'll see you later, Bobby boy-cat," I smiled and turned around. Sam had scheduled me to start in just about an hour. I had plenty of time to be ready. And sure enough, I was. It was seven thirty and I was walking out to my car.

Frannie had been by the previous day to pick up her mustang. I took that to mean that Quinn's legs had been healed enough to be moved. He hadn't called me yet. I wasn't too concerned, really, I wasn't. I'm sure he had been through a lot, what with the whole terrorist incident. I couldn't blame him for not putting me on his top priority list.

That was a lie.

I thought I should come first, if he really cared as much as he said he did. I know, I was being bitter. I really couldn't help it though. I felt as though I was suffering from posttraumatic stress or whatever. Oh well, I'm sure getting back to work and busying my mind would relax me a bit, even if I would go through an entire inquiry(that was my word of the day) with Sam. If I didn't want to talk about it, he would surely say _I told you so,_ like everyone else had been saying to me, and then be done with it.

I got into work to see that Arlene was taking someone's order in the section next to mine. She glared and me and 'hmphed.' I was guessing that she was pissed to hear that, thanks to my endeavors, the Fellowship had failed to destroy as many vampires as they would have liked.

I passed her up without saying a word and went to Sam's office. "Hey," I said casually to my boss, and friend. He glanced up at me for a moment, scribbled something down, and then leaned back in his chair.

"I was worried I might not see you tonight, which everything that's happened," he replied. His eyes were sort of glazed over, and I could tell he was trying to read me—in a thoughtful, non-telepathic sort of way.

"Hey, you gave me the time off; the least I could do was show up on time when I was scheduled," shrugging, and crossed my arms across my chest. He shook his head.

"Sook, you know that's not what I meant. We were all so worried about you. You were listed as a survivor, but they couldn't find you, and no one was in touch. I wasn't sure if you would make it back to even come to work," the shifter explained seriously. I shrugged again.

"I'm a tough cookie, Sam, I can take a little bit more than an explosion," _and nearly falling out a window, and filling my lungs with vampire ash, and getting a bit burned, and scratching myself up while digging through rubble. . ._ "Really, I can," I added, seeing the expression on his face.

"So, was it worth going?"

I immediately stiffened at his question. No, of course it wasn't worth going, but if I hadn't, Quinn would have died, most likely, along with many other humans, and vampires, though at the moment, I didn't care that much for them. "Yes," I replied slowly, "yes it was." It was, over all, for Quinn and Frannie's sake, worth going to the Pyramid of Gizeh with the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. It was worth all of the trouble, and pain, and torment. And it was worth knowing that those vampires were beings I didn't ever want to deal with again.

"Fine then," Sam said, sounding almost exhausted like, "fine. You go on then, your shift starts in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Sam," I flashed him a smile and turned to go back into the main bar area. I did, in fact, catch the '_I told you so'_ feeling as I exited the room. Oh well, that was that, and it was also the end of it.

So as I entered to start taking orders, I saw immediately that my friend Tara was sitting in my section with JB, her hand across the table holding his, and exposing her new wedding ring. I had only just found out that they had tied the knot a few days ago. She came to my house immediately to tell me. I smiled at the two widely as I came to their table. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Sookie! Glad to see that you're back at work! I know you seemed a bit distressed when I broke the news to you, though I'm praying to god that it wasn't because of us, and wasn't sure how long it would be until you were back," Tara said, being completely honest. I continued smiling and shook my head.

"Heck no! You guys had nothing to do with it! In fact, if anything, you guys brought my mood up! My trip had just gone a bit sour, that's all," I was a bit relieved to see that it was not at all the entire town, which knew about my _survival._

"Well, okay. We just wanted to make sure that you were okay, isn't that right, JB?" Tara smiled sweetly at her new husband. He immediately smiled as well.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right. We always want you to be happy, Sookie," that JB. As nice as ever. . . and slow. He wasn't really the sharpest one in the shed, but that didn't affect his ability to be kind. I scanned his thoughts briefly, relieved to see that his sights were souly on his woman. Tara and I had protected that guy for ages, and he seemed to feel an immense love for the girl, now knowing that she cared for him more than a sister.

"Don't you worry about a thing you guys," I chuckled, "now, what can I get the happy couple?" I loved the two to death and all, but chit chat wasn't something I was really feeling up to at the moment.

"Miller light," JB responded immediately. Tara seemed to take an extra minute.

"Well, how bout a daiquiri?"

"Coming right up," I replied, still smiling, even beaming as I turned around. As soon as I met Arelene's hateful gaze, my smile fell. Best to avoid **her** for sometime. . .

"Here you are," I carefully placed Tara's strawberry daiquiri in front of her before sliding JB his beer. "I've got to move onto other tables, but just give me a holler if you need something else, mkay?" My two dear friends smiled and nodded at me before falling into their own conversation. They were such a good couple for each other.

And sadly, on that thought, it brought me back to Quinn.

Damn.

The more I thought about him, the more pain I seemed to feel. He would call me, right? Surely he would. I mean, he killed a very powerful vampire to take revenge for me. That _had_ to say something, right? I sure hoped so. The more and more I thought about him lying in that hospital bed, the more I wanted to just cry. It had pained me to see such a thing.

Well, back to work.

Luckily for me, the evening was a smooth, relaxed one. No unwelcome visitors, no unwanted questions. Things went well for me. I was able to take care of my shift, to lock up at about two thirty, and head home a bit early. It felt good to be back at work. It reminded me why I didn't take many long trips, and why I stayed in my small town.

Though many of my towns people didn't care for me that much, I did care for the, or at least, **about** them. I had long since accepted my difference, and I was perfectly fine with other's un-acceptance. I had been able to help them out on occasion, finding missing kids and the like. I was fine with my life among the humans, even if they didn't like me that much.

That's why I was fine leaving most of the supernatural world behind. I didn't mind staying in touch with a few shifters and the occasional witch or two, but as for those who especially liked my ability, like, hm, _vampires,_ well, they I didn't mind ditching.

They only made my life a heck of a lot more difficult.

* * *

_t.b.p. I've just finished All Together Dead today. Seriously. Just like a few hours ago. I've sort of had this idea in mind since Dead as a Doornail, but I've just never had enough courage to attempt it. I barely ever write in first person, much less as the main, canon character. This is sort of a change for me [cept for Caligo Sese._

_I hope you enjoy this, and I hope I'm able to match style closely to the actual book. I'm trying my very best._

_Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

Dead As Dead Can Be the black panther Rated T [for now

_**[Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

* * *

Two weeks had passed by in a flash. My life had seemed to return to normality, whatever that might be. My life had never really been normal to begin with, had it? Amelia had successfully landed herself a job working for a wizard selling insurance. She was well liked, and he used her help when magically protecting insured objects. She enjoyed being abele to use her magic again, so it all worked out. I didn't have a problem letting her be my housemate until she had enough money to get out on her own either. The undead had been out of my life, and I was starting to actually like humans again. 

But Quinn had still not called me.

It wasn't until midweek that I received any sign of life from my _boyfriend._ He showed up on my doorstep. I had picked up on his brain pattern when he pulled into my driveway. I had jumped up and changed into something more appropriate. Something to make him regret not calling me. It worked.

I could see the longing in his eyes, and his want radiating from his mind. He sort of just gazed at me before even speaking. Yup. Mission accomplished.

"Hey," I replied simply, leaning against my doorframe.

"I see you've recovered well," Quinn chuckled, forcing a smile. I nodded.

"No better than you. No one would believe that you had both of your legs broken." Right, conversation was minimal and tense—not a good sign.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess," I moved away and allowed him entrance. He came in and shut the door behind him. "How's Frannie?"

"Good, good. She's healed fine as well. I'm just going to get to the point," that Quinn, as blunt as ever, "I'm sure you've been wondering why I haven't called you." _Oh really? How DID you guess?_ "I wasn't permitted to call you or anything."

"What?" I asked loudly, "by who? Frannie? What she do, take your cell phone and hold it over your head?" Quinn seemed to expect that reaction. He said nothing, but shook his head.

"No, she actually encouraged me to reach you some how, but I didn't. I couldn't put her at risk. I'm allowed to come here today because they told me to come," I'm sure my facial reaction was of total disbelief, because he seemed to search for the next words to say. "The Queen of Louisiana instructed me to come."

I jumped up, absolutely fuming. Vampires. I hated them all. "I wasn't aware that shifters and Weres submitted to the Vampire rule. What's wrong? Are you afraid of losing revenue?" I had never been so angry, or even so heartbroken, as I was now.

"Babe, you know it's not like that," he sighed, still shaking his head.

"Well, _babe_, how is it then?"

"She knows I murdered Andre. And she's pissed. I had no choice but to do what she said, or else she's going after Fran. Don't give me that look, I know you saw me do it," he snapped. I was pacing around, waving my hands like a madwoman.

"Great, so I'm back under her power. Wonderful. Fantastic. This is just a quaint little Sunday stroll in the park!" I couldn't help but raise my voice. This was the last thing I wanted.

"No, not completely. This only lasts until you complete your job. . .should you choose to go through," Quinn sat down on my couch and placed his head in his hands.

"Which is what, exactly?" I hated this. Not matter what I did; those bloodsuckers knew how to make me a fly in their web.

"Do your usual, telepath thing, that's all," Quinn's voice was soft. He was obviously trying to do the best he could in keeping his cool in check.

"I think the _Queen_ needs to find herself another lackey," I growled and sat into a chair across from the Were. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't want either of them to get hurt, but this was becoming quite the burden.

"You won't be working for her. This other person's someone of much higher status. She's coming from over seas. Did you know how rare a telepath is? I didn't. Every state has who has one has been forced to send them to her temporary residence here in Louisiana. All six of you," Quinn looked up at me. It was obvious that he was stressed out, and he looked older than I had ever seen him before.

"There are only six of us in the United States?" That sort of struck me hard. I hadn't realized how valuable I really was.

"Yeah. The Queen has to send you. She knew you wouldn't come if any other vamp told you. She knew you would only listen to me, and only if we were in danger. Will you accept?" Quinn watched me closely, waiting for my answer. I chewed my lip silently, thinking everything over as I played with a little tassel on the armchair I was flopped in.

"I really hate this," I muttered, pouting like a child. I had every right to be pouting.

"I know. It sucks, but I had to come and tell you. You have a choice though. You can say no." The Were stood and walked to the window, crossing his arms and looking out across my property.

"I do not have a choice," I snapped at him, my voice seeping with bitterness, "you will be held under their control for setting me _free_, unless I do this. I have to." We were both silent for a few moments that simply seemed to drag on. My ancient oak grandfather's clock dinged twice signaling that it was two. I had to start work in an hour. "Where do I have to be?" I finally sighed and gave in to my entrapment.

"Fangtasia."

"And what time?"

"Whenever you get off work. I guess they will fill you in before they ship you off. Again." Quinn turned around to face me, his brows furrowed in discontentment. "Babe, I'm sorry. This is my fault."

"Yeah, it sort of is," I replied a bit harshly before I smiled, "but we're in this situation because of me. I'll do what they want. Hopefully then they will just leave us alone. I can't keep missing so many workdays! I'm going to have no vacation days left by the time the Holidays roll around!"

I stood up and walked to my _boyfriend,_ wrapping my arms around his thick torso. Quinn held me tightly, and I started to feel better. This would be my last escapade with the undead.

I hoped.

* * *

**_t.b.p.- that is right! I finally updated after MONTHS! I'm really sorry! I lost this chapter, and that pissed me off. I just didn't want to write it again. Eventually, I did. That was about two months ago. I have two computers; a good one and a crappy one. Of course, this document was on the crappy one, which I never ever get on. I happen to be on it today, so, I figured I better get this up!_**

Notes: Yes. This is a story. Not a one shot. There are multiple chapters. I just am terrible at updating.

I am trying to match styles while trying to maintain my own. There are differences, and that is intentional.

I haven't totally abandoned it! ... Only partially... Thank you for all whom have reviewed! I am very glad you like my story, and that you want me to continue!


	3. Chapter 3

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T **_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

* * *

I reluctantly forced myself away from Quinn's safe embrace, and went off to work. The drive there wasn't a very pleasant one. I had so much on my mind that I didn't even both to turn the radio on. The only noise was the sound of my engine running and the wing whipping past my car.

I pulled up and parked towards the side of the parking lot, where Sam's trailer was, and slid out of my car, ready to head into Merlotte's. When I entered, Sam immediately sniffed me out. No. Really. He literally sniffed me out. He asked me instantly about my meeting with the Were Tiger. I guess that's what you get when you have a shifter for a boss, right? "Everything is fine, Sam," I said, trying to assure him.

"Sook, you don't seem okay," he replied, his eyes narrowing as he looked me over, "what is going on?" Sure, I was standing there sort of wringing my wrists, but I really don't think I am THAT easy to read.

"I was just wondering if I could possibly take a half hour lunch, instead of my hour."

"Do whatever," Sam said and shrugged, making it seem that he believed everything was alright. Then he crossed his arms. "But as your boss, I need a reason to let you clock out early." He may have been a shifter, but I was still getting his curiosity in my mind as plain as day.

"I've just got to leave as soon as I can," I said as casually as I could muster, "'cause apparently, I'm being summoned." I'm sure that my overly nice tone of voice clued Sam in on my intentional discretion. He immediately understood that I wasn't able to tell him what exactly was going on.

I could see Sam gritting his teeth as his eyes seemed to burn holes into my skin. I shifted my weight a bit and waited for my boss's reply. "You just keep digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole, don't you, Sookie?" I was absolutely shocked at his response. I had been more or less been expecting a 'yeah, punch out at 11:30,' or, 'leave after the early rush,' but not what he said. I didn't expect him to sound so. . . judgmental.

"I'm trying to end this, I really am," I replied, glancing down a bit, a bit hurt by his words, though I really couldn't explain why.

"I hope so, for your own sake. Leave when you have to, Arlene's coming in at 10. She'll be closing for you if you decide to leave early," Sam stated rather blandly. He didn't express any emotion, but that was just Sam for you. I smiled a bit and nodded before going to go put my purse beneath the counter.

It was only a bit past the dinner time rush, and there wasn't much to do. Patrons didn't start coming in to drink until close to ten o'clock, and even then, they were just the regular drunks. A slow night, apparently, but that wasn't so bad, since I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. I was taking down an order of Andy Bellefleur when Arlene came walking in.

I only glanced at her. She wasn't getting another thought in my mind until I had time to waste on her. I took the order and went immediately behind the bar to fill the drink. I set down a beer for Andy, gave him a smile, and turned to rush away. "Sam, I'm leaving, okay?" I said and leaned into his office for a moment.

"Is Arlene—"

"Yeah, she's here. I'll see you tomorrow night." _Hopefully._

"Be careful!" He shouted to me as I grabbed my things from under the counter once more and threw open the front door. It was almost 10:15. If it took me an hour and half to get to that damned restaurant, would be nearly midnight. They probably wouldn't keep me too long, so I prayed I would be on my way home by one, and in bed by three. Of course, who I was to think that things would go as planned? Heck, if anyone knew how much plans could be messed up by the vamps, it was me.

* * *

You know that daze you get into while driving? That one where you're sort of just barely going through the motions? The one that's incredibly dangerous because you're not really paying attention? Yeah. I went through one of those. I hadn't even realized how long I had been driving when I was pulled from my own thoughts by, well, someone else's thought.

I nearly hit him. I wasn't paying any attention, and my car started to swerve off of the road. If he hadn't been broadcasting his thoughts loud and clear, we might have actually crashed. I swerved back though, and everything was okay. I could just hear a ton of cussing coming from the man's mind as his car passed mine.

I was only about twenty minutes away from Fangtasia. I couldn't believe it. Where was my time going? God, where was my life going? I sighed to myself flicked on my turn signal, making a right to get off of an exit.

As I parked my car, I had to wonder—why didn't they just come to me? It was probably a heck of a lot easier for the vampires to just take to the sky and get to me, than making me drive an hour and a half out of my way because they want to talk to me. It was Bull. I slammed my door shut and moved my purse to my shoulder.

I knocked on the door, expecting Pam to open it as she usually did for me, but instead, it was Eric. That was a surprise. He never did anything so. . . well, lowly. He had hired help to do those sorts of things. "Hey Eric," I sighed, letting the oddness of the situation go. He did not respond. He stood back, let me come in, and then looked back outside, as if to just check that no one had followed me. "Okay, no greeting, that's fine. I don't care."

"Not the time Sook," he said, his voice stern, and shut the door, locking it. I really did not like being locked in with a bunch of vampires. "We're all a bit irritated. Be careful." I was about to ask what that meant when I realized something. There was no music. There was no eerie lighting, or even someone manning the bar.

"Is Pam here?" I asked carefully, glancing around. Eric shook his head.

"Not allowed. Not important enough," he said, almost bitterly. He held his hand forward, directing me forward. I walked through the entrance and into the main area. There was one dim light turned on over one of the large, VIP booths. To my shock, I saw her sitting there—the Queen of Louisiana.

I sort of understood what he meant by Pam not being important enough. Eric was there, as was the Queen, who looked incredibly menacing as she sat there, a vampire I did not recognize, and a. . . well, it was a girl, or a young woman. I wasn't entirely sure what she was. She wasn't a vampire; she was very much alive. But she wasn't a shifter either.

As I walked over, I was not asked to sit, and I didn't ask. I didn't need to get myself into any more trouble. The other vampire was a bodyguard. He was replacing—well, he was the latest one. No wonder the Queen was so angry. Eric walked over and sat down next to the bodyguard, who was next to the royal vampire, and stayed silent. The other girl, well, she had an entire side to herself, and it seemed as though the vampires wanted to just stay away from her.

"Let's get this party started, shall we?" I jumped as I heard a voice come from behind me. Another woman joined the group, and she, I knew right away, was a demon. She just gave off that vibe. And she was amazing looking, even more than the vampire women I had seen before. She sat down next to the other young woman, who barely moved, and did not even give any visible signs that she had registered the new comer. "So you're part of our telepathic brigade, hm?"

"Uh, I guess. I mean, I am a telepath, but being part of your—" I was ready to continue and be a bit more defensive, when Eric shot me a look telling me not to do it. "Yes, yes I am. I was told that all telepaths were being summoned."

"Were you told anything else?" The demon woman asked, being very casual. She was very pale, but not sickly pale, with long, dark, wavy hair. She sort of reminded me of Snow White actually.

"No, just that I needed to be here," I replied and shrugged. The other young woman was giving me the creeps. She just sat there, staring blankly ahead. I couldn't get a reading off of her though, which was completely strange.

"You will be going across the state," the Queen finally spoke up. I gave her a look that very clearly said, _oh am I, now?_ "And you are not being given a choice. Someone of a much higher rank has recently come in from Italy, and has _requested_ that we all send our representatives to her with any telepaths."

"I'm sorry but I don't think I can miss work," I stated very clearly, ignoring Eric's attempt to stop me.

"After this last task, you will not be forced into doing anything else for the Queen," the demon woman stated, still staying quite calm. I raised a brow. Hm. That was sounding pretty good. "We have already discussed it. Our need for you surpasses hers, and we have already organized a contract. You are officially under our command, and you will remain so with our departure back to Europe. However, I'm sure you understand that, being over seas, we are going to have little for you to do."

I did not like being traded around. But then, if they were going to leave me be after they went home or whatever, it wasn't half that bad.

"Alright, fill me in."

* * *

**_tbp: that's right. I updated! I'm really only working on this while I'm in school, so... I'm really sorry. But I think you can look forward to more, hint /hint ._**

**_Thanks goes to Siaftza! The first reviewer of 2008! It was actually you who made me come back and update!!_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post**__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

* * *

"Just what we wanted to hear," the demon woman replied, a dark smile on her lips. I got the distinct impression that she was actually a very mean person. "This weekend you will be sent a driver. He will take you to our temporary residence. Be prepared for a long ride—we are steering clear of major travels, airplanes and the like. You understand, don't you? Trying to stay inconspicuous." 

Yeah, it was obvious by her tone that she was trying very hard to stay sweet and personable. I didn't buy it, and I didn't even have to read her mind to know that. The woman waved her hand and from the other side of the room shot a chair, halting right behind me. I glanced at the five before reluctantly sitting down.

"Um, how long will I be gone?" I asked. I'm sure I shouldn't have sounded as confident as I did, since I'm sure those arrogant vamps took it as defiance, but I couldn't help it. I was still not thrilled about the situation. "I mean, I just got back from another trip for the vampires, and I've missed a boat load of work. I'm sure my boss isn't going to be happy about me leaving again. Especially with just a few days noticed."

"Don't you worry about that. We'll send a replacement—and your boss won't have to even pay. How does that sound? The woman asked, still smiling. I twitched a little bit.

She was becoming very irritating. Not to mention the fact that she just to me that they would send someone else. Sure, I knew that I was relatively expendable, but I didn't like _them_ telling me that.

"Okay, listen," I finally said, a bit harshly, "you don't need to pretend to like me or anything. I don't want to be here and you don't want to be here, so let's not beat around the bush. What do you want with me, how long am I going to be gone, and how much danger am I going to be in?" There. I said it. Everything was out there, and I felt a little better, despite Eric's obvious attempt to get me to shut up without actually saying a word.

"Finally, someone who doesn't waste time," the demon woman said coldly. In a flash, she had changed from being my best friend to being totally evil.

Though I was feeling pretty confident, my nerves went berserk when I noticed that the silent one was now staring at me. The worst part wasn't even that she had finally moved her attention on something, but that it had to me in which she focused her attention. After a moment though, I noticed something else about her. Her eyes seemed almost. . . dead.

"You will be gone for as long as we need you," the woman who had already been doing all of the speaking continued on, "we've bought a large piece of property along the coast after Katrina hit to help generate some revenue to all of the extraordinary beings living in the area. Since then, construction has been underway since the purchasing, anticipating our arrival. However, I must admit, we are a bit earlier than expected. Remember, this will be the last thing you are required to do as an underling of. . . anyone. It would be well worth your time, and you will be fairly compensated for your time. We are understand that you have your own life to be living, and we recognize the fact that you were never officially signed into the power of the vampire to my left."

Hold up. What? I looked at the faces before me, my anger very visible. What this. . . demon . . . just told me was that the Queen never had any right to make me do her will in the first place. I clenched my hands into fists, my nails digging into my skin. Are you kidding me? All of this time. All of this time, I was allowed to say no, and they would have had to listen. But no one told me that. Not Bill. Not Eric. Not anyone.

I could see that the Queen was becoming just as angry as I was. She did not like what this other woman was saying. Why didn't she do anything then? Didn't she have the power? No, it didn't seem like she did. Who were these people, and why did they have such power? These two weren't even vampires!

The demon woman cleared her throat and I turned my attention back to her, "anyhow, all you have to do is your normal, telepathic thing. You will be with a few others, and you will need to scan the minds of those congregating with us. All you are doing is looking for anything that might be suspicious. Does that sound easy enough?"

"I guess," I shrugged after a moment. I didn't like being used, but then, I was starting to like these new people much more than I liked the ones I had worked with before. "I can't read all minds though. You know, supernatural beings aren't as clear and vampires are unreadable."

"Yes, we know that. However, they are not the ones we are concerned about. We are more particular about the humans roaming around our vicinity," the demon woman said slowly, and rather cautiously. It took me a minute, but I understood. M

"The Fellowship of the Sun," I whispered and she nodded.

"Which moves us to the question of your safety. We are in much more danger than yourself. There will be many there who do not care if you are human, and will want to harm you. Then again, there will be many, many more that will feel it is their duty to liberate you from our clutches."

As she spoke, the visions of the last terrorist-like meeting I had with the cult came flashing back to me. The hotel exploding, the people trying to kill me, you know, those sorts of things. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of risking my neck for the vamps again.

"Hold up," I cut in, "um, I really don't want to have to be put into danger again. Those Fellowship members know who I am now, and if they see me, they will try to hurt me. Why should I have to put myself in risk?"

"Don't worry about those silly Fellowship people. We have much more powerful people. We are more concerned with our visitors from over seas: and they, well, they aren't going to care very much about you. That's why all you need to do is tell us what they're thinking," the woman finished and sat back. "So are you simply going to agree, or do we need to force you?"

I had to admit, this wasn't the worse possible scenario. I mean, after this, I was done, completely done. Well, that's what this woman said at least. And, I mean, she said that I wasn't in as much danger as the rest of them. That wasn't too comforting—that just meant that there would be a whole lot danger for all of us.

"I'll do it, but you're promising that I will be free to go back to my normal life, I will never have to work for anyone again, you'll have someone cover my shifts, and I will be compensated?" I asked, still suspicious.

"Yes," the woman said simply and shrugged, "you will have a VIP room as well, which you won't have to pay for, obviously."

"Fine."

Damn. I hate these supernatural types. They can convince me, the silly human, to do anything.

"Good, then we will be going. We must make sure plans are in place after all. Come on," the woman finally addressed her partner, who still had barely moved. They both stood up, after sliding out from the booth, and walked into the corner. It was dark; very dark. The dark haired demon woman placed her hand on the quiet one's shoulder and. . . they were gone. Vanished. Okay, that was something I have never seen before.

"So, um," I started to speak to the remaining three, "who were they?" At first, no one wanted to speak. Finally, Eric was the one to speak up.

"Desdemona de Marquis and Edan. We're not really sure what her first name is. Obviously, little miss Dessy is a demon. That wasn't too hard to pick up on, I'm sure," he said and ran his hands through his blonde hair.

"And the other girl? The creepy one?" I asked, being totally blunt with the vampire.

"I don't know. We don't know. We know nothing about her. She's not one of us, that's for damned sure. We can _feel _the blood pumping through her veins," he said, looking down and burying the other hand into his strands. I had to smirk. Good. I'm glad these bloodsuckers were uncomfortable.

"Wow, you guys really had to resist, didn't you," I commented, smiling a bit.

"None of us are stupid enough to get too close," the Queen spoke at last, her voice cold, and entirely directed at me. "We're done here. Caj, we're leaving." The two slide out of the booth, and walking away.

"Sook," Eric picked back up, folding his arms on the tabletop, "you've got to be very careful. There are going to be a large amount of people: vampires, shape shifters, witches, and. . . slayers."

Slayers? They were something I had never heard about, but by the tone Eric used, they sounded bad. To me though? I doubted it. Slayers sounded like something out of Buffy, and what was she? A vampire slayer. I was safe. Probably. "Alright, I know you're just dying for me to ask. Who are slayers?"

"You're right, I was really hoping you would ask," the male smirked, "the Fellowship of the Sun is the American version of the Slayers, but not nearly as efficient. They're wannabes, fakes. The Slayers go back nearly as far as us Vampires, they've been killing us for as long as we've been killing humans."

I made a strange sound, showing my awkwardness. None of the vampires I had been around had ever spoke about murdering humans.

"The Slayers aren't quite human, but not quite anything else. Their sole purpose is to slaughter vampires and other beings of darkness: demons, werewolves, witches. . . but mostly vampires. They are incredibly dangerous—though you're safe," Eric finished and slid out from behind the table. "Drink?"

"No, thanks," I sighed and shook my head, "I still have to drive home. So why are there not Slayers in the United States?"

"Believe it or not Sook, we're pretty strict on vampire killing here. Over there, it's almost custom. They're a _secret_ so to say. Slayers aren't out In the open, but everyone basically knows about them. Police shrug and say "oh well," when a vampire turns up dead," the male explained and poured himself a glass of TrueBlood.

Dead. I had to chuckle to myself when Eric said vampires died. They were already dead, so how exactly does one turn up dead, and cause suspicion? A vampire has to not turn up at all—and a pile of ash has to appear. Oh, I thought to myself, it had been a long night.

"So who am I_serving_?" I asked and stood from my chair. Being a barmaid, I automatically moved the chair to its rightful spot and flipped it to the top of the table.

"The Queen."

"But the Queen is sending me with those women, so who am I going to?" I continued to question, becoming irritated once again, and very quickly.

""No, not the Louisiana Queen; the European Queen. That is to say, the Queen of Europe. She's here, here in Louisiana, preparing to conference on the vampire attacks, and attempting to create a truce," the male vampire said and downed his glass of synthetic blood. "Like I said, Sookie, you need to be careful."

* * *

tbp: how about that? I updated! It didn't take me four months! I've already started part five, so hopefully it will be up in about a week or two. Thank you to all who review! And just so you know, I really do try to take reviews into consideration. As a certain reviewer requested, I attempted to make Sookie a bit more couragous, and more questionable towards authority, without pulling her out of character. So if you have a suggestion, please share! I really do listen! 

Thanks for reading-- now review!!


	5. Chapter 5

My drive home went much quicker than my drive to Fangtasia

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead:**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

* * *

My drive home went much quicker than my drive to Fangtasia. I suppose that I had much more on my mind now, though. Honestly, my world seems to be becoming so twisted that it just doesn't seem real anymore. I want someone to pinch me, and just wake me up. Speaking of waking up. . .

I had to slam on my breaks to avoid hitting a stray dog that darted out in front of my car.

I didn't hit it though, which was good, since in these parts, you don't really know which animals are animals and which are actually people. I caught a glimpse of a tail continuing into the woods, which surrounded me. Sighing, I moved my foot from the break and continued down my road.

Pulling into my driveway, I saw that my house was still dark. Amelia must be in bed, or possibly not even home at all. I parked my car; pushed open my door, slid out, and shut it again with a groan. My body just ached for bed, and that was what I intended on.

I put my keys in the lock and jiggled it, unlocking the door and then opening it. Though usually I have no problem walking around in my own house, in the dark, I felt the brainwaves of a person nearby, causing my hand to immediately shoot to the wall, searching for the light. Flicking the living room lights on, I heard a groan similar to the one I had let out at my car.

"Hey, babe," I let out a sight of relief when I saw Quinn sitting up from my couch. He rubbed his eyes, and it was very obvious that he was still asleep.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" It wasn't as though I minded his presence, I was just not expecting to walk in and see my boyfriend reclined on my sofa. "I thought you had to leave?"

"I did," he replied and leaned back, yawning, "I went and grabbed some food, got about two hours away, then decided to turn around and come back because I had to hear what was going on with the vamps. Amelia let me in. I hung around with her and Bob before she left, just waiting."

It was kind of sweet. He was concerned enough about me to turn around and come back. Okay. I couldn't be angry at him anymore.

"I suppose I can explain everything, just let me go and change." I turned around and started to walk, then realized that he had gotten up and started to follow me. "No, sir! You go back and plant yourself on that couch!" I scolded my boyfriend and watched as he dragged his feet back to my couch, pouting.

I hurried back to my room, pulling off my barmaids' uniform, and grabbing a pair of sweat pants from my bottom dresser drawer. After, I snatched up the first teeshirt I could find—one I had gotten while I was in Dallas with Bill. Across my chest is read 'Don't Mess with Texas.' Hey, it was comfortable.

As I headed back to my living room, barefooted, I tossed my hair up into a loose ponytail. Quinn was lying across my couch, an arm over his eyes. He heard me come back in and he moved his arm. Suddenly, his expression became very serious, "babe?" He asked me, and I put my hands on my hips waiting for him to continue and move, "can I mess with Texas?"  
I suppose boys will be boys.

"No you may not! Now move over and make room, I want to sit down!" The male scrambled to make room for me on the couch. I sat down, pulling a large quilt from the head of the sofa, one big enough for both of us.

"So what's the verdict?"

"Well," I started, "I have to leave this weekend—"

"—to see the Europeans?" He cut me off and finished my sentence before I could even get very far.

"Yeah, do you have to go?" I only asked because I thought that he might be involved with the whole party planning aspect. All of those vamps had parties. Anyhow, I guessed right.

"Yup. I'm leaving on Wednesday though. I have to drive out and make sure everything's okay before the first official gathering. I wonder why the vamp Queen couldn't just tell me to tell you that," Quinn stated and put his arm around me, pulling my body closer to his.

"Did you know they never had any power over me?" I asked bluntly, changing the subject. He didn't reply. I looked at him, and he looked incredibly confused. "I could've said no, at any time. No one told me. I just thought I had to submit to whatever they wanted. I didn't. I guess I wasn't 'officially recognized' as being a servant of the Queen. Technically, I guess I don't have to do this."

It hurt to know that the people, if you consider vampires people, I had spent the past few years with had kept such important information from me. They caused me so much trouble, with so much that I just didn't want to do, and I was just now finding out that I basically did everything voluntarily.

"No, babe, I never knew," Quinn sighed, "those vamps can be bureaucratic sons of bitches, and I just assumed they, of course, followed procedure in recognizing you. You would have had to sign an agreement before they could technically call you theirs."

"And now I'm blood bound to them anyhow," I muttered. I wish I had never saved he-who-shall-not-be-named from those drainers at the bar that night, so long ago. I would never be in this mess.

There were a few minutes of silence to follow, and then my boyfriend spoke up again. "So you met them then? The European Queen's henchmen?"

"Yeah, I did. I mean, they never officially gave me their names or anything, so I guess there wasn't much of an introduction, but I sat and spoke to them. Well, one. The other one didn't speak at all. I was surprised at how the Queen just sat there and took their lack of respect. I thought she was going to flip out," as I finished, I made myself comfortable against the Were, and started to even nod off a bit. It had been a long night. "That one girl is creepy. The one that doesn't talk. She just sits there staring, like she's not even hearing anyone else. When she actually looked at me, it sent chills through my body."

""

We ended up talking for a little longer before going to my bedroom to sleep. Yes. Just sleep. Both of us had too much on our minds to actually do anything else. I dreaded going in to tell Sam that I would be leaving again. It wasn't so much that I thought he would be angry for taking so much time off, but because he wanted me to be done with the vampires as much as I wanted to be done with them. Still, if he were getting free work, could he really complain?

He did. A little bit.

After I got close enough for him to get a wiff of me, he immediately stopped arguing. At first, I thought it might have been because I probably smelled like Quinn. No, he had never had a problem with him like that before. . . Maybe it was those women. Maybe I smelled like Demon, and that was why he just shut up. He didn't want to deal with them.

Sam said he would give me whatever hours I wanted up until then, just so I could get a few extra bucks on my paycheck. I agreed to work not only my shifts, but half of another. I had no idea how long I would be missing, after all. I desperately wanted the money, whereas who ever my replacement wasn't getting paid—at least not by my boss. He would actually be getting free help.

Each night I did a little packing, but just a little. I was so exhausted from work that I didn't feel much like sitting around and packing. However, by the time the day of my departure came, I regretted not taking the initiative to just get it done.

""

I heard a car pull up in my gravel driveway, and I sprint back into my bath room to pull the curlers out of my hair. My. . . escort. . . was early. Really early. It was five in the afternoon—I had been expecting at least nightfall. I changed out of my sweats quickly, into a pair of black slacks and a purple dress shirt, and then ran to open the door in response to the knocking.

My chauffer was a younger guy, probably in his early twenties, with straight brown hair that fell into his eyes. He wore a bright smile, and a dark suit. "Miss Stackhouse, my name is Nathan and I'm to take you across the state. If I may get your things, I can take them to the car, and we can leave," he said to me, his tone matching his smile.

"I—I'm not entirely ready yet," I said slowly, a blushing creeping across my cheeks. It was embarrassing to say when I've had over a week to do so.

"With all due respect, ma'am," he said, his smile still plastered on his face, "we really _must_ be going." I was about to object when his thoughts clearly breached my mental wall.

_. . . Must go. . . danger. . . will be following soon. . . _

"Right, I'll grab my purse."

I left the door open so that he could grab my suit case sitting near the door and went to my bathroom. I unplugged my hair dryer and any other electronics, slipped my earrings in place, and grabbed my purse from my bed. Just what I wanted: to have to rush out from my house because someone was going to come and attack me.

* * *

**t.b.p.: **Thank you to all who reviewed! One point I would like to make out—the Queen of Europe bit, that's very important. The way I think of it is like this—each state has a King or Queen, but the United States should have a Superior one, like our President. Europe is basically made up of many countries, that could be like our States. The Queen of Europe is the equivalent of our President. Does that make sense? European vampire culture would obviously run much deeper than that of the United States, so therefore, the idea of the European Queen would be a tradition much older than the type of government used in our country. But hey, if you don't like it, I am sorry. It's just part of my plot.

I know Eric's syntax and such is off—I was writing it quickly, and didn't have time to put him into character as well as Sookie. He will come back, however, and I will try my hardest to make him, well, himself!

And no, I haven't read the newest book yet! I'm sorry! Obviously, this is going to just be very different, and probably not be able to incorporate anything from the newest one!

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry it's taken so long!


	6. Chapter 6

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**___

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

I walked out to the black Lexus in my driveway, and paused for just a moment, thinking about where I should sit. Nathan put my bags into the trunk and then walked to the driver's seat without a word. Okay, so much for a chauffeur. It made up my mind at least. I would just sit in the front seat, having him more as a companion than as a driver. I opened the door and slid in on the black leather, shutting the door after.

"Alright," I said seriously, "what's following us, and why are we in danger?" I stared at him directly, waiting for an answer. He just sat there, quite calmly, smiling. We pulled out from my driveway, and started out onto the road.

"Well, ma'am, we had to get a head start because some of the Slayers were going to try to intercept us, and take you away." Wow. He sounded so casual while talking about my kidnapping.

"And do you think that I'm okay with that? I was told I wasn't going to be in very much danger!" I snapped and crossed my arms, but then shifted, resting my elbow on the window, putting my hand to my temple.

"I don't know who told you that, ma'am," Nathan said, his tone a bit darker, "because you are in a great load of danger. There are many people who would not want you meeting up with the vampires."

Why me? I really had to wonder that. Why me?

"Are they going to come after us now that we're on our way?"

"No, I don't think so. Leaving before sunset will surely throw them off. They will be expecting a vampire to be retrieving you," he said and sped up a bit. He didn't show any signs of  
nervousness, and I didn't get anything from his mind, so I felt a bit more comfortable. Perhaps I would be okay. Shortly after I thought that, his phone rang.

"Hawes," he answered, "oh hey. Yeah, I've got her. No, everything was fine. So far, no signs of trouble. Everything should be fine. Yeah. Are you still meeting me at the rest stop? Okay. Okay. Will be in touch." That was it. He hung up. "Ma'am, it's going to be a long drive, feel free to put your head back and relax. You're going to have to be used to getting up at night again."

I nodded and did as he suggested, putting my head back to relax. It had been a stressful day already, and I had only been involved for a short bit. I could only imagine what lay ahead of me.

""



I woke up to find that the sun was setting. How long had I been asleep? Two hours at least. "Where are we?" I asked, trying to shake off the sleep. Nathan was driving along contently, and smiled at me when I spoke.

"Just on the highway. There's a rest stop up ahead where I'm going to have to switch out with another driver. He'll be able to supply more protection against whatever comes to get you," he said and flicked on his turn signal to get into the lane to our right. The  
rest stop must be coming up.

"Oh, I see," I said, "is he a vampire?"

"Yup. That's why I came to get you. He was supposed to be the one picking you up, but obviously daylight was a problem, and we had decided to get you early," he said and continued to merge right. I could see it now, the rest stop.

"Was he the one on the phone with you earlier?"

"Yup."

Wait. He was? If I could recall correctly, and I'm sure I could, it was still very much daylight out. How could a vampire be on the phone with him at that point? It was much too early for a vampire to be awake. Suddenly, I had become very suspicious. And then I  
realized my idiocy.

I had walked right into a trap. Literally. I voluntarily entered the car, walking right into it. I was almost positive that Nathan was a Slayer—he was the one doing the intercepting. Damn. Now, I had no idea where I was, where to go, anything. How do I manage to get myself into these situations?

Even though I was mentally panicking, I remained calm, sitting completely still. I didn't want him to know that I had, or thought I had, figured out the plan. Either he would kill me, or  
there was going to be another Slayer waiting to get me from this rest stop. I didn't particularly like either idea.

When the rest stop came into view, I found that it was decently lit, but completely empty. "So, have you ever met the demon people from Europe?" I asked, attempting to make conversation, and decide if my hunch was right.

"Oh yeah. They're creepy," he said and laughed, I forced a chuckle.

"Especially that one. I just hate hearing her voice. She scares me," I continued on, remembering what I could.

"Yeah, I know. Her voice is always strange. She's just a frightening person I guess."

Yup. Just as I thought. He had no idea what I was talking about. He was just acting like he knew who I meant—trying to lull me into comfort. Well, that just wasn't going to fly with this telepath. I nodded and didn't let on how nervous I was getting.

I set my purse on my lap and pulled out my compact. I checked myself in the mirror and wiped away a small smudge from my eyeliner. As I placed it back inside of my rather large, black bag, I inconspicuously grabbed my house keys. I held them tightly to make sure they didn't bang against each other—so tightly that they dug into my hand.

When Nathan looked over his shoulder to change lanes my hand out of my bag and slid it to my side. I put my longest key between my middle and ring finger. I was going to do my damned hardest to get away when I had the chance.

As I sat waiting to pull into the rest stop, which was only seconds away, I tried to get a read on the supposed Slayer's mind. It was strange. I couldn't. It was almost as if there was something blocking him from me. I was only able to hear what he wanted me to head.



When we pulled into the small, luminously lit area, I saw that there was another black car waiting for us. Always black cars. Why? Why not red? Or silver? Why always black? Anyhow, now would be my chance. I took a little bit of time to gather my stuff, basically stalling. Nathan exited the car and walked to my side. This time, he opened the door for me. As I stepped out, I noticed that the barrier had temporarily faltered. I could momentarily hear his thoughts.

_. . .hurry up, you dumb bitch. Those vamps will be on my tail any minute now. . ._

Would they come for me? Would the vampires from Europe be able to find me? I didn't wait for find out. I punched my deceitful captor in the jaw, my key digging into his skin. From the next car, another male jumped out, a gun in hand. I hadn't entirely through my plan through, I realized, because now, I had an angry, bleeding Slayer and angry, gun wielding Slayer on either side of me. "Stay away from me!" I screetched and started to back away. However, it was unnecessary. The advancing male stopped—apparently unable to move. Then I noticed something.

He was sinking.

"Damnit! It's that demon!" The one with the gun yelled, "get out of here!" Nathan stood, holing his heavily bleeding jaw and tried to get back to the car. Out of no where, he was grabbed. All I could really make out were the pearly whites digging into his neck. Soon, he was released, and he hit the ground—dead.

"Come, come, now," a female voice said from behind me, "did you really think you would be able to take our telepath without us knowing? We've had eyes on her all week. We knew the moment you showed up to take her away. Oh well, I suppose you must die now."

Desdemona. I could recognize that cold voice anywhere. She walked past me, towards the Slayer, whose knees had already disappeared below a pool of darkness surrounding him.

She looked. . . very appealing. I supposed that it was part of her allure. She wore high heels and a double-breasted coat over probably a black cocktail dress. Her pale skin almost glowed, much like a vampire. I watched her closely as she stopped and bent down.

She kissed him. How strange.

As she pulled back and walked away, I saw his skin turn to ash grey. His veins were visible—but only because they had turned black. He died within moments and the pool of darkness over came him. I jumped back as the unnatural shadows dispersed. That was not a good way to die that was for damned sure. "They were Slayers?"

"Mm, yes, they were, now, if you will follow me, we must continue on. We still have a night of driving. Well, you do, I'll be returning to the Manor. Jonathan!" The demon woman called out to the vampire still devoring the body on the other side of the car from me. He stood up and smiled, blood dripping from his fangs.

"Yes, my lovely demoness?" He said, a hint of joking in his voice. The woman scowled and glared at him, quite obviously disliking the manner in which he spoke to her. He walked around, closer to me. He was a vampire, but he didn't seem to be terribly threatening. Almost like the character you might see as a comic relief in a movie or something. That was my life for you, one crazy sci-fi script after another.

"Disengage the tracking system in the car and continue on with Stackhouse. Anymore Slayers pop us, you know what to do," she commanded and started to head to a patch of trees a few yards away. I could only guess that she was going to pull the same vanishing act that I had seen her do before.

"Aye, aye, mistress," he replied, smile still in place as he saluted. He walked to the front seat again, popped the hood, and went right into fiddling with something that I couldn't see. The 

Slayers, apparently, had prepared for something in case their car was hijacked. I turned my attention from the vampire to the demon, but she was already gone.

She must have had more important things to attend to than little old me.

"Um, Jonathan," I asked slowly, still staying a good distance away from the vampire, "how—how much longer do we have before we reach, well, where ever it is that we're going?" He grunted a few times before he pulled out some wires and tossed them on the ground. He stood up and wiped his hands on his suit, which looked very expensive by the way, combining grease with blood. Lovely combination.

"'bout four or so hours I would say, depending on how fast I drive, of course," he said with another smile. I swallowed hard, not at all reassured by his statement. "Now, just hop back in and we'll get going. I'm sure you're eager to get into one of the Manor's comfy beds."

I wanted to snort and say _'not with you,' _but I figured that it would probably be better if I just kept my mouth shut.

So there I was, getting back into the car that I had been tricked into in the first place, and with a strange vampire this time. Which was worse, the humans who wanted to free me or the vampires who wanted to use me? Maybe I shouldn't have attacked that Slayer after all.

""

_**t.b.p.: yup, I finally updated, even though I've had this chapter written for month. I'm hoping that I will be able to keep updating. I have every intention to, and, judging by how well I had managed to do with my Artemis Fowl/Holes cross over, even after over a year of not updating, I have high hopes. I do intend on finishing this, I promise. **_

_**merryXgirl, thanks for reviewing! I still have not read the new book, but it's sitting on my shelf for me to read after I finish the latest Artemis Fowl book!**_

_**mydirt09, no need to worry, I'm just terrible at updating! Thanks for the concern though!**_

_**Lulu, thank you!**_

_**Venus Smurf, I know what you mean about the book prices. I just had to buy it so that I could continue to update. Once I read, I'll be back in the writing mood, hehe. I guess this chapter answered your question about Nathan!**_

_**SapphireShell91, thank you! Yeah, I suppose it helps to have read that last book, but not totally necessary. I'm going to have so much original stuff in here that it isn't going to matter if people have read the entire series or not. **_

_**Assuit, thank you for reading! And there will be more Eric, I promise!!**_

_**HelloSexy, what kind of person would I be if I let the heroine die in the first five chapters? First seven maybe. . . just kidding, she's the main character, so I couldn't do it that soon. Hehe, thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Everyone else. . . I know you're out there! I can see you clicking! Even you people in Finland and Poland! Review and let me know what you think!!**_


	7. Chapter 7

I nodded off some two hours into my second ride. Jonathan had been cheerfully humming along to the song _ I Wear my Sunglasses at Night_ when my tired mind just couldn't take it anymore. My head rolled to the side and I was out. Riding with the vampire had been suspiringly more comfortable than with the human, but I guessed that the silence coming from the supernatural being's mind was relaxing. At least my mind wasn't getting nearly as much unwanted thought-static as it was before.

I was awoken by the suddenly bumpy ride. I grabbed onto the handle by the edge of my door, sometimes lovingly called the oh-shit-bar, and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on in my still sleeping state. "No need to worry, Miss Stackhouse," the vampire said with a smile, "we're just hitting the bad parts of the back roads. Many of the nation's royalty is currently entering through the main gates, so I've been told to have you go in through the back."

Right. I wasn't important enough to get to use the front doors. Well, I suppose that I didn't really want to deal with those stuck up bloodsuckers at the moment anyhow. I sighed and sat back, waiting for this Manor to come into view. I remembered the demon Desdemona saying that it wasn't entirely finished though. This _**wasn't**_ finished?

The house looked sort of like a giant plantation—easily bigger than anything currently existing in Louisiana. It had large stone-marble columns, fourteen of them. I counted seven on each side. This was more like a palace than anything else. There was a large governor driveway shrouding the biggest fountain I had ever seen. I'd me more inclined to swim in it than make a wish, even though there was a large statue in the middle.

It was the dead of the night, obviously, so it was still too dark to see everything. I couldn't see what was probably an insanely amazing landscape, but I could see that there were a few cottages, though only one was complete. To add on to the list of unfinished things, there was an entire wing of the plantation-manor-palace that was in mid-construction. "Incredible. . ."

"The Regina herself designed the house and landscape, or so I hear," Jonathan informed me, "but I don't know if that's true or not. She's had crews building since just after the Katrina clean up had started. The foreign input helped generate some economy in this area, though it was mostly among other supernaturals. There was some controversy when she bough the land, since there were numerous American vampires of nobility trying to get a hold of it. Not even the wealthiest vampire in all of the U.S. could have generated such a cash flow, that I'm sure. She really was a life saver for a lot of people."

"It's construction, I can't believe that it's that glamorous or well paying," I said with a bit of disdain. I knew from my brother that it was a lot of long hours in all of the elements, sometimes doing some dangerous things. I wouldn't want to do it.

"Maybe you're right. For a while though, she had temporary housing set up for those who were employed, but were hopeless. She fronted advances for almost half of the workers so that they could take care of their families. You know how hard people where hit around here. Tell me that she didn't help out a lot," the vampire replied. He didn't take offense to my words, but I could tell that he was almost daring me to argue. I just shrugged and kept my mouth shut.

The black Lexus continued driving, now on a gravel path. It was nearly 3 a.m. and I was starting to feel tired again. Not only that, but I had a terrible headache as well. I prayed to god that there would be hired help or something who would carry my bags, because if not, I was sure it would take me forever to lug my stuff to whatever room I was given.

We approached one of the back entrances, and I was yet again surprised. I, at first, had been a bit offended when I was told I had to use the back. It seemed like discrimination to me. I was expecting to have to cut through kitchens or something—you know, something that would be _appropriate_ for a lowly human such as myself. That was not the case.

Another small, governor's driveway led to a back set of French double doors. A servant dressed in a suit opened my door and offered me a hand. I graciously took it, since we were on gravel, and I was in high heels. As I looked around, in total awe, two boys—dressed similarly to old fashioned bell hops, came rushing out to take my bags. "Miss Stackhouse?" One asked, a bit unsure.

"Yes?" I responded, but I didn't turn to look at him. I was still taking in my surroundings. He seemed to be relieved that he hadn't called me by the wrong name, that I could tell.

"Ill take you to your room. We'll load the bags onto a baggage shaft and get them to your room, but our elevator isn't operational yet. We'll have to walk."

"That's fine," I said as he took me inside, beneath an archway or white roses and lilies. I wanted to reach out and take one, but I figured it would be rude. After all, it had probably cost a fortune to have a florist grown the flowers like that. We continued on, entering onto a marble floor. "This place must have been a totally ridiculous amount. . . what's going to happen once this whole thing is over? Aren't the Europeans going back over seas?"

"From what I hear," the teenage boy started while he placed my bags onto a mini-elevator with the other boy, and I could tell they were both human by their brain patterns, by the way, "this place will become like a hotel—time share sort of thing. We all get to keep our jobs after they leave. So they must be planning on keeping it up and running."

Well, this place would surely attract some high society members. It may be far aay from any city, but if you wanted to get away, and you had the money to do it, this place was probably the perfect resort. And I got to stay here. For free. Sort of.

I was, hopefully for the last time, risking my life for the undead. My first night wasn't even over and I had already been kidnapped once. I was walking right into the battlefield. Then again, if this place _was_ the battlefield, then it as going to be a very civil fight. The bell hop walked in front of me, leading me though the mini atrium. He pushed open a set of doors and nodded for me to go through. I stepped through, and the difference was light night and day.

The entrance I had come through was dimly lit, and everything was decorated in white and silver. To me, it gave me a feeling of soft moonlight. This entrance was like sunlight, ironically enough, since it was probably part of the main entrance in which all of the vampires were coming through. It was decorated in white and gold. Unlike the other area, it was brightly lit with candles. I saw that there were outlets for lights and such, but they didn't seem to be in use. I figured it was mostly for show, you know, a way to appeal to the vampires who had known life before the time of electricity.

What was most impressive about the room was the massive chandelier, which had the most beautiful crystals I had ever seen reflecting the candlelight across the room. "Miss Stackhouse, if you will please follow me," the bell hop brought me back to reality, beckoning me into one of the side rooms. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to use the grand staircase—also made out of marble, by the way, like the floors—but I didn't argue. "I'm taking you up through a staircase that isn't normally in use, but with the vampires using the main one, I've been told to take all humans by this set for the night. You can use the main one starting tomorrow night."

"Okay, thank you, um," I realized that I hadn't asked his name, and I hadn't looked on his name tag. I could have searched his mind, but that wouldn't be very nice, "what was your name?"

"Jonathan, ma'am, but you can call me Jonny. My uncle also works here, and his name Is Jonathan too, he's—"

"—a vampire? I think he was the one who picked me up and brought me here." I decided to leave out the whole killing a human part. That would be cruel on the teenage kid.

"Yeah, that's him. He got me the job here. He works for the Europeans—though it's mostly for Mademoiselle deMarquise," Jonny replied as he started up the stairs. "Your room is on the third floor. All of the telepaths are in your wing, as a warning. You're the most protected humans in the Palace, so don't worry."

Ah, so they did call this place a Palace, or really, _the_ Palace. An appropriate name. I was curious as to who else knew I was a telepath. Did they just tell everyone or what? "No offense but last time I was told that, my building was blown up and I nearly died."

"I know I won't be able to assure you enough, but the Regina brought people over to put very strong protections on the building. I'm not going to say it's impenetrable, but it is _very_ safe," the bell hope explained. He was right, that wasn't enough for me, especially after my last encounter. I sighed and looked up the staircase, it rose in block patterns, to see how far I had to go before my floor. It was far. This kid _had_ to be in incredible shape to keep going up and down all of those stairs.

When we finally reached the top, it had been awkwardly silent. He was working though, so I didn't feel the need to make conversation. He would return downstairs and get the next person, and he was getting paid. Silence was okay. I was too busy thinking to myself as we walked down the hallway to notice that the bell hop had stopped. I nearly ran into the poor kid. I looked at the door, wondering if he was going to open it or not. He didn't. He stood there, staring at me. "I don't have the key. . ." I said after a moment, thinking that maybe he expected me to had had it for some reason.

"You do," he said and pointed to a pad located right about the handle, "it's programmed to your fingerprint. It'll be inconvenient if you want to have someone run up and get something, but at least it'll keep out most people." Surprised, I put my index finger on the pad. A green light flashed and there was a click. Placing my hand on the door handle, I turned it, opening the door. Before I could look and be taken aback by awe, I glanced at Jonny.

"Just out of curiousity—"

"Maids? We have, er, very special maids while the Regina is here. She likes her privacy, and she can't stand people touching her stuff. I heard that once, while she was still human, a servant stole her mother's ring. The Regina caught her and cut her finger off for it herself. She hasn't trusted free thinking maids since. . . If there isn't anything else I can do for you, I'm going to head back downstairs and wait for the next arrival," he replied, waiting for me to dismiss him.

"Are you sure you're not telepathic?"

"Positive ma'am," Jonny said with a bright smile, "I'm just used to the questions that people ask. I've heard them all, believe me."

"Oh, well, okay," I sighed with a shrug, "thank you for everything, and I won't hold you up. Wait, wait, a tip, hold on—" I started rummaging around in my purse, but he stopped me.

"Don't worry, that's taken care of. A guy named Quinn asked me to take care of your stuff. He had a bit of a run in with some of the other guys up front, and I don't think he trusts them. That's how I knew your name, ma'am. He told me when you would be arriving so that I could look out for you. Have a good evening, Miss Stackhouse," the bell hop told me and then waved. I was left a bit surprised. Quinn and I hadn't been in much contact for the past few days, but here he was, looking out for me anyhow. It made me smile.

I turned, shaking my head, and walked in to my room. I had barely shut my door when I dropped my purse in shock. Surely my room was something out of a movie set or something.

Okay.

Risking my life and all?

Totally worth it, just for the room.

""

_**t.b.p.: okay, so it's not up as quickly as GLV was, but hey! It's a start! I'm probably going to be in college by the time I finish this (that like two weeks, so no big deal.) Another update should be on its way in the next few days!**_

_**Assuit, thank you for reviewing again! I'm glad you're still reading!**_

_**MerryXgirl, thank you too! There's only like ten fanfictions on the site, so I know it's hard to even find any story, much less a decent one. Not that I'm bragging or anything, cause I'm not. But considering my lack 'o updates, I still have the most reviews for a Stackhouse fic. I still have yet to read the book!! Hopefully I will get to it in the next week!!**_

_**Everyone else, review! I know you're out there! I can see you clicking!!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

My purse dropped out of my hands, hitting the ground and spilling out everywhere on the, you guessed it, marble floor. I didn't bother picking it up. I took a step forward, kicking my tube of mascara underneath the bed. The room was the size of my kitchen, easily, and that didn't include the bathroom. I stepped towards the bed first, examining the silky white sheets and lavender comforter. The bed was a queen size with fifty gazillion pillows on it, four poster, with a material draping across the posts that I didn't even know the name of. I had two nightstands, a trunk at the foot of my bed, and an armoire across from that. It was _simple_ in a way, but extremely expensive. All of the furniture looked like it might have been hand carved out of whatever white wood was used—at least, that's what the small roses and lilies made me think of.

Who ever this Regina or whatever was, she must have had a thing for roses and lilies.

Not only were they cared into the nightstands and trunks, but they were painted on the walls, though not obnoxiously. They lined the bottom and the corners, looking as they had come right up from the marble. I liked it, but it seemed strange for a vampire. There was a knock at my door and I scrambled to clean up the mess my purse had made before opening it. Maybe it would be Quinn.

No such luck.

I opened my door to see a maid standing in front of me. She was dressed in what seemed to be a uniform of some sort. It was the strangest thing to see, at least, to me. The outfit was a dress-robe. . .thing. I didn't even know how to describe it. I stood straight when I realized that I was probably giving her a rather rude look, since I was staring. "Sorry, um, are these. . ?" My bags were in front of her. I didn't know if I should just take them or what. When I looked back to the maid, she was just staring and blinking. Didn't say a word. Didn't move a muscle. I took a step forward and reached down to grab my handles, as I pulled back to drag them in, I realized that I could see though the being in front of me.

I jumped up and stepped back, watching as she turned and glided down the hallway. Had I just seen a ghost? I mean, I've seen some strange stuff in my life, but never a ghost. Though, I guess it wouldn't really surprise me if I did. No, I decided that she wasn't really a ghost, but more like a hologram or something. That's what it looked like at least. I quickly gathered my things and pulled them in my room so that I could shut my door. Well, Jonny did say that they had special maids here, he just didn't think to specify what he meant by special.

Now that I had my things, I could easily turn in for the night and enjoy my nice comfortable bed. Or, I could check out the bathroom and take a nice hot bath. After all, a room was only as good as the connected bathroom, every girl knew that.

I walked in and flipped on my lights, falling in love instantly. It was marble, just like everything else in this freaking place, excuse me, _palace_, but it didn't stay to just the floor. The bathtub, which was big enough to probably fit three of me, was all one, continuous marble stone. The sink was a marble base holding up a pearly white basin, though I didn't know what kind of material that was. There was a shower in one corner, though it wasn't very big, and had just about a foot of marble surrounding it to keep from splashing water around, with a white curtain. The entire shape was like a semi circle.

There was a silky bathrobe handing next to a set of brand new set of lavender towels. There was a cupboard filled with spa essentials—the best shampoo, conditioner, body scrubs and lotions, hand creams, facials masks. . . the list went on. I was in heaven. It almost didn't feel like I was forced here to work, but to take a vacation. Why not live it up while I was here, especially for free.

I found a drawer filled with just scented bubble bath, bath salts, and even fresh white rose petals. I didn't use the latter items, but the lavender scented bubble bath I did take. I started running the water while I unpacked my things into the spacious closet and trunk.

I found myself humming while I prepared for my bath, enjoying just the quiet of my running water and nothing else. There was no television in my room, which was okay, since I didn't watch much anyhow, but the balcony with the view of the night sky made up for that. I even took a chance and opened the door, letting a breeze come into my room. When my phone started ringing, I jumped, startled by the sudden interruption. Who would be calling me at what, four in the morning now?

Quinn.

"Hello?" I asked, not sure if I was annoyed that he hadn't bothered talking to me in the past few days, or glad that he thought to call me.

"_Are you here?"_

"Yeah, why?" Obviously he couldn't see it, but I scowled as I said that. I didn't like the tone of voice he had with me. Immediately I felt bad for doing so.

"_Oh, god, good. I had caught wind that one of the telepaths had been kidnapped, and I worried that it was you,"_ he replied with a heavy, relieved exhale.

"That, yeah, that was me. Don't worry, I'm okay. That Desdemona and a vampire named Jonathan came and got me. No worries. Well, not for me, I can't say the same for those two Slayers—"

"_What!?"_ He shouted, though I doubted he was angry at me, _"Are you in your room?"_

"Yeah, why?" I asked the same phrase for the second time.

"_I'm coming up? Third floor right? What room number?"_

"378 I think," I said after a moment, trying to recall my room number, "but I'm getting ready to take a bath!"

"_So? I'll join you." _It didn't seem as though I had much choice in the matter. I was ready to object, but, realizing that I couldn't find any real reason to say no, I told him fine. We hung up and I waited, pacing around, occasionally checking myself in the mirror to make sure I looked okay, waiting for his knock. Ten minutes after talking to him, there was a rap. I looked out the small peephole to see my boyfriend peeking back at me. I jumped back in surprise, not expecting an eye looking back at me. I opened the door, my hands on my hips. He just stood there, hands in his pockets, with a wide smile on his face.

"That's weird to do to people," I said seriously, frowning at him. Quinn stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry babe, forgive me?"

"I guess so," I sighed, "but only because you tipped the bell boy for me." He smirked at me as he leaned down to give me a kiss.

""

Quinn left my room some three hours later. When he did, I curled up in my bed and crashed for the night—er, morning, I mean. It was nearly dawn, and I was absolutely exhausted. I didn't even bother changing into my night clothes; I just fell asleep in my silky bathrobe instead. My hair was still wet from our two hour long bath and I never bothered to dry it.

I yawned one last time as I started to drift off to sleep, thankful for the blackout curtains. I didn't know what sort of material it was, but it was white and light weight. It matched tastefully with the rest of the room, but served a definite purpose for those of us trying to fall asleep in the daylight.

I was told by Quinn, as he was leaving, that I would have tomorrow evening to explore. Two night from now there was going to be a big party. Or something like that. I wasn't entirely sure what it was. Anyhow, that was when this Regina would make her appearance. I had been to vampire parties before. This was one sure to be extravagant, possibly even more so than the house.

Regina. Was that a name or a title? I wasn't really sure. I knew it meant the European Queen, however.

I was also told that each group of supernaturals were to wear some sort of identifier so that everyone knew what every one else was. They didn't like secrets here—but then, that was why I was here, to make sure that no one was hiding something. I didn't know what the heck I was supposed to have or wear though, because I definitely didn't bring anything with me. I wish that they had bothered to let me know what was going on. I would have had no idea if Quinn hadn't told me what he knew.

Oh well, that was enough thinking for the night. Maybe someone would tell me something tomorrow while I was. . .

Yup. That was it. I didn't even finish my thought. I was sent spiraling into dreamland. My bed, I decided, was probably the softest thing I had ever slept on in my life, and I blamed it for my sudden suction into sleep. Not that it was entirely a bad thing.

I woke some eleven hours later. It wasn't even dark yet. As I rubbed the drowsiness away, I forced myself from my comfy bed. I walked around a bit, slowly moving the curtain back so that my eyes could get used to the late afternoon-evening sunlight that was pouring in. As I caught a glimpse of myself in a hanging mirror, I groaned. I looked scary. My hair was a mess from letting it dry while I slept and I wasn't yet back on my awake-at-night schedule. I ran my fingers through my blonde locks while searching for my hair brush. I'd lounge around for a bit, get dressed, then head back downstairs and see if I could search out more humans. I still wasn't thrilled with the idea of mingling with vampires again.

I had just finished getting dressed into a rather dressy shirt outfit (I just didn't think casual would fly in a place like this) and doing my hair when there was a knock at my door. My hopes immediately rose for Quinn. I smoothed my hair down and fixed my blouse. I pulled the door open and. . .

Nope.

Not Quinn.

Much, much, muchmuchmuch, worse. It was probably the very last person on the earth who I wanted to deal with. And believe it or not, it wasn't even a vampire.

""

_**t.b.p.: So, how about that? Two chapters, two days. Don't know if there will be another one out tomorrow. No promises, okay? I have to write it first!! Also, I hope you guys aren't getting bored with this—I know it's kinda dragging on, but I don't want to rush it. I just completed another Fic of mine, and it went over much better once I wasn't rushing.**_

_**MerryXgirl, really? You think I should hold off? I don't know. I might start it and read it very slowly. That way, I'm in the Stackhouse mood, but it won't really matter what happens in the book. I don't know. I'm still trying to get through a bunch of other books sooo I'll just make that my last one! I'm glad you thought to tell me that though. Now I don't feel so bad that I haven't read it! Thanks!**_

_**Powerhungry, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you keep reading!**_

_**SapphireMind, thank you so much for reviewing—I'm happy that you like my story! Don't worry, I'm a terrible reviewer. I almost **_**never**_** review for a story, which is so hypocritical because I'm always pushing for people to review my stuff. I'm happy with just a single review from each reader though, heh.**_

_**Everyone else, review! (See? Hypocritical!) Lemme know what you think of my story!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

I opened my door, still hoping it was Quinn, and froze. Standing there, staring at me intently with her dead looking eyes was the creepy Edan girl. This was more shocking that my encounter with the ghost maid from last night. "Um . . ." I was afraid I would stutter if I tried to speak anymore. She turned in a fluid motion, waving her hand for me to follow. I grabbed my heels and shut the door, hopping about a bit to get them on as I walked. She may have been relatively short, but she moved quickly. I almost had to job to catch up with her. "Where are we going?"

Of course, there was no response.

I was getting my work out fro the day by just following her. Down a hallway, up a staircase, through some doors, down another hallways, turn left, turn right—how big was this place?!

My head was spinning.

II would never make it back to my room on my own.

Finally, we went through a set of doors that led to a sitting room. It was a good thing too because my feet were already absolutely killing me. My heels were brand new and I hadn't had a chance to break them in yet. They were now. When I walked in, I saw the faces of about ten people starting back at me. I head to force myself not to squirm beneath their gaze. Edan pointed to an open spot on a couch and I sat down obediently, wanting to get off my feet anyhow. Without another word, the creepy young lady left.

"So, as I was saying," a guy with a distinctively Irish accent said and started to chat with another woman to his left. I was left to wonder what was going on.

"Don't worry," an older woman, British I thought, said with a soft smile, "you're not in trouble. Edan's just gathering all of the telepaths together, on Miss Valentinian's orders, I'm sure." I nodded, though I didn't really understand.

"I hope this won't last as long as that last one," a gentleman in a suit and glasses stated with a scowl from his spot by a window, "I'm going to miss my son's sixteenth birthday. My ex wife will make me buy him a car, no doubt, to _make up_ for missing his _special day_." He seemed French I think. These must have been the telepaths brought over from Europe with the rest of the Regina's entourage. I turned back to the woman who spoke to me.

"Miss Valentinian?" I asked, lost, hoping she could explain who that was.

"Oh, yes, she's the Regina's daughter—last of the Vespasian Valentinian line. She's a telepath as well. She actually the only vampire telepath in existence, if I'm not mistaken," she said, "my names Helen. You are?"

"Sookie Stackhouse," I replied with a smile, glad that at least someone was friendly. "I didn't know what was going on when that Edan came and got me."

"Yes, well," the Frenchman butted in, "she has a way of doing that. Not even the best of us telepaths could tell what goes on in that head of hers."

"It would be much easier if she just spoke every one and a while," I said with a shrug. There were a few nods in agreement. All of the Europeans, however, looked at one antoher. "What?"

"No one told you?" The Irishman asked is disbeif.

"Told us what?" Another American asked from across the large sitting room.

"Well, Edan" the British woman started, "she's a mute. She can't speak. Only Isabella, Miss Valentinian, can communicate with her. They have some sort of connection that lets the two speak through their minds. It's why Edan's mind is off limits to all of us. We can't get through that connection."

"—not that any of us would want to see the things that the girl knows. I've heard some stuff about her. . ." The Irishman said but trailed off, not wanting to elaborate.

I now felt a little bad for thinking the girl was creepy. Only a little bit though. She couldn't speak to almost anyone—I mean, how many people actually know sign language? Not very many. "What's her job here?" I asked, curious as to what she could possible do to help, other than running around and retrieving people.

"She's the Regina's oldest human servant. She's the guard of both the vampire queen and her daughter. That's all we know," said the Irishman, "the name's Mike, by the way."

"Well, how old is she? She doesn't look very old, especially by human standards," yet another American asked. I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one lost in the dark here. Mike shrugged.

"Don't know nothin' about that. Don't ask, don't tell, you know? We just do as we're told. We're safer that way." I was going to continue to question the other telepaths, but I didn't have the chance. The doors opened suddenly, and the topic of our conversation walked in, followed by someone else. Someone I recognized. Barry the Bellboy. Well, only he wasn't a bellboy anymore, obviously. Now he worked for the vampires like me, only he was more willing. We weren't on good terms.

He eyes everyone suspiciously before find a seat and taking it. The room had fallen silent when Edan walked in. Everyone was watching to see if she would leave again, but, sadly, she didn't. She raised her hand, her index finger pointing at noting in particular, and drew something in the air. I was surprised to see little red lines form out of midair as she did so. She flicked her wrist and the symbol/mark/thing went shooting into the wall as though it had a mind of its own. I was in awe, as was everyone else who had not seen something like that before—a.k.a. the Americans.

"Edan?" Helen called out calmly. The mute young lade was kneeled down by a trunk now, rummaging around inside. She didn't show any signs of having heard the British woman, who continued anyhow, "will Isabella be joining us after nightfall?" The girl gave a curt nod and continued about her business.

I didn't know what to make of her. Unlike the rest of us, who were all dressed very nicely, she wore a black zip up over a red cami and a pair of torn up jeans. She didn't even wear shoes, well, not right not at least. Her hair wasn't exactly a mess, but I was tussled about a little bit, like she had just come in from the wind or something. She stuck out terribly in a place like this. Abruptly, she stood back up and went to the door of the room. I thought that she had decided to leave, but she didn't.

One of the ghost maids stood outside with a cart of food. Once the door was open for her, she glided in, the cart following after her. On its own. What the hell? Was I in Hogwarts? I also noticed that the symbol that Edan had _drawn_ was floating around inside of the maid. "They're nothing more than spelled energies," Helen commented to me, "a warlock in Germany makes them for the Regina. They only do as they're told, so they can't really do anything wrong—"

"—like steal jewelry?" I quietly muttered. She heard me.

"Why, yes. I suppose that Jonny told you. All of the people working for her were warned about the Regina's temper when it came to people disturbing her things. These maids can't do that, but any free thinking being can. You can see why the word was passed around about the amputee maid from the Regina's lifetime. Anyhow, only supernatural beings can ever see these maids. Isn't that lovely? I would give anything to have one to clean my house and do my laundry," the British woman sighed, her voice trailing off. I just watched with a brow raised. They creeped me out. After the card was delivered, the symbol disappeared and the maid followed after. "They need permission to enter the Regina's wing, you see, so once they have served their purpose, their permission is revoked and they must go elsewhere in the building immediately.

Mike didn't waste any time waiting around, he jumped up and walked to the food cart. A few more followed after him, though it took a few moments. I, being a bit hungry, was one of those few. The cart was filled with breakfast foods, ironically enough, since this would be nearly dinner time, had I not slept for the past eleven hours. I grabbed a small ceramic plate and a fork, stabbing it into a few pieces of sliced up pear. There were pastries and bread, but I didn't want to look like a hog. I settled for looking dainty and eating only some fruit. "So, I guess this is all normal?" I asked and bit into my slice of pear.

"Every time we're summoned," nodded Helen," we go somewhere fancy, stay for free, get out identifiers, listen to minds, and relax. It's almost like a vacation."

"Not to mention getting paid," Mike added in after swallowing part of one of his pastries. "After doing this a few times, I got enough to open me own pub. Wish they had tracked me down sooner. Probably couldn't avoided some jail time, what with having a proper job and all."

"So there's never really been any trouble? We don't have anything to worry about?" Danger was something that had plagued my mind for a while. Though I could never be totally relaxed here, a bit of comfort wouldn't be so bad.

"Not for us, no," the Frenchman said and walked to the cart to pour himself a glass of ice water, "the Slayers aren't after humans. We've never been threatened. They're after anything _unnatural_ not just supernatural. Telepathy is considered the next step in evolution, therefore, it's natural. The Slayers go after vampires, weres, demons, etcetera."

"Don't forget to tell her why they don't go after telepaths, witches, warlocks, or things like that, Jakey," Mike said with a smug expression.

"Jacob," the Frenchman snapped, "you American have that Fellowship. You don't have Slayers. The Fellowship wants to join them, but they will never be allowed. It's not as though the Slayers don't like what their American version is doing, but they don't condone the killing of humans. Not only that, but only very special people can become Slayers. A person has to be able to manipulate an element."

I noticed some strange looks from a few other telepaths who had been relatively quiet this whole time, "like Desdemona?" More strange looks. Right. I guess I was the only one who had seen her come and go with the darkness.

"Exactly," Helen responded with a smile.

"Des is a demon though," the Irishman said with s shrug, "we attribute her abilities to her demon-ness. So similar, but not entirely the same. I've never heard of a Slayer manipulating darkness anyhow. More so fire, water, air, earth, electricity—things like that. There are different levels of power—some can cause lightning storms, some can only light a candle with their minds."

"That's why they don't go after humans who just happen to have different abilities," I said casually, "because that's all they really are." Nods in response.

Okay. Things were making a little sense now.

It was a start.

The Europeans continued to explained to us silly Americans all of the things that we didn't understand because we didn't have them here. Much of the conversation was about the Slayers though. Jacob, the Frenchman, had been telling us about their history, and how far back the Slayers origins went, when I happened to glance over at Edan.

She was staring at Jacob. She looked like she was ready to leap across the room and kill him, her gaze was so cold. When she noticed me looked at her, she turned her attention towards me, and my heart nearly stopped. Though her eyes still had that same dead expression, I swore I could almost see a fire behind them.

""

_**MerryXgirl, I'm not really in rush to read the book. I still have a few more lined up, so I'm just going to hold off on the book. I would love to have a room like Sookies. . . I haven't decided if there will be major significance behind it, though I do have some plans for their meaning. I used to work in a floral place, and I really hate flowers. Roses and lilies just go nice together though, haha.**_

_**Powerhungry, thanks for reviewing again!**_

_**Officefan79, thank you for reviewing as well! I'm glad you like my story!**_

_**Everyone else. . . REVIEW!!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

The evening sun had set, and we telepaths were left in boredom. We had all but run out of topics to discuss, and silence over took us. Some of the European telepaths had thought to bring books with them, apparently anticipating a long wait. I hadn't. I sat, kicking my leg, staring off into space. I wondered where Quinn was, and what he was doing. Would he be looking for me? No, he knew that the telepaths were fathered together. He wasn't concerned about me.

There was sudden movement from the corner of the room, and I looked up to see Edan, who had been looking very statuesque for the last hour, jumping up to walk to the door. She opened it, standing much like a soldier would if a superior was walking in. I could only assume that one was. A pretty young woman, who at least _appeared _to be Edan's age—maybe nineteen or twenty, quietly entered.

She was definitely a vampire. She was very pale with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She didn't look the least bit mean or threatening. In fact, in her powder blue dress, she looked almost friendly. _But she's a vampire_, I thought to myself, _and you know how even the nicest one has turned out._ She walked in and the creepy girl shut the door behind her. "Good evening," the blonde girl said in a soft, gentle voice, "it's wonderful to see some familiar faces, as well as some new. I bid you all welcome, and I thank you for coming."

I nearly snorted to myself. It wasn't as though most of us, if any of us, really had much of a choice in coming. But oh well, that's something I wasn't going to say aloud.

"For those of you whom do not know me," she continued, "my name is Isabella Vespasian Valentinian. My mother is the Regina. I am also a telepath, and therefore in charge of this group of ours. I am aware of the inconvenience this has been to you, and I am terribly sorry for the wait. Edan will distribute your identifiers and then we will move on so that we can all be on our way for the evening." The creepy dark haired girl took her cue and opened the trunk she had previously been sitting upon. From inside, she started to pull out set of velvet boxes.

Now, when I was told about this 'identifiers,' I was thinking this was going to be like some Nazi camp, you know, with ugly bands on our arms to let everyone look down on us for what we were. Not the case. The boxes that Edan brought out were jewelry boxes.

She set the all down on the ground, kneeling over them, and opened each one. I guess it mattered which ones went to certain people. There was silence as she did so, but randomly, I saw her nod. I glanced back at the vampire woman, who was watching her. They must have been communicating through their secret bond thing or whatever. It made me wonder about the two of them. "Ladies and gentleman, do forgive me, but for those of you whom have done this before, you will not be receiving the same gems as you usually do—" there were groans in response "—we will try to give you similar stones, but something unexpected has come up, forcing us to change the marker distribution."

It really didn't make any sense to me, I mean, what was the big deal about changing what you got? Apparently, it did, at least to the Europeans. We Americans had never had them, so we couldn't have cared less. Edan stood, cocked her head to the side, looking at all of the open boxes intently. I couldn't see what was inside of them, though now I knew that they had gems or something like that. She abruptly moved back down, quickly slamming the lids shut before stacking them in a particular order.

The creepy girl grabbed a handful of the boxes and walked towards us, handing out a few to the Europeans first. Then a few more. Then a few more. I was last. I was number twelve, I noticed. With the vampire girl, that meant that there were thirteen telepaths. Lucky number thirteen. Edan walked over to me, her hand outstretched with a box. I took it, and, forgetting who I was dealing with, looked up to thank her. Her eyes locked with mine, and I paled, quickly taking the box from her. I agreed with the other telepaths now. I didn't want to know what went on in her mind.

I opened the black velvet box, keeping my head low so that I wouldn't look at the girl again, and nearly fainted. A necklace.

A diamond necklace.

I looked up to see that the other Americans were looking at one another, shocked. The Europeans looked extremely irritated as they leaned over to see what was in their neighbor's box. "If you will please put them on now, I will move on," the vampire announced calmly, still standing, folding her hands in front of her. We all looked at one another before placing the necklaces around our necks. As soon as they sat properly, the gems sitting by our collarbones, I wanted to pass out again—this time from sickness.

Each of us dealt with the sickness in our own way, resting out heads in our hands, putting out heads back, messaging our temples. . .

"Within the diamonds," Isabella stated, unaffected by the sudden bout of illness in the room. I looked up dully, my head still in my hands, noticing that she also wore a similar necklace to ours, "there is a particular energy that acts as an enhancer to telepathic abilities. It takes a bit getting used to, but the energy will make it much easier to control your abilities. Each of you will be able to more clearly read human minds, and even supernatural beings'. This also blocks out the minds of other wearing the necklace. You may have noticed that, while inside of this room, your minds were not open to each other. That was because the gems, when together, amplify power. Edan, who has a mind closed off to everyone except for myself, used her own mental state to somewhat _silence_ the room. However, from this moment on, you will be able to hear the thoughts in almost every person in this building, except for the vampires. I cannot explain to you how to block minds out, so you will have to learn on your own, if you do not already know."

I groaned, thinking of how difficult this would probably be. It was hard for me to keep a mental barrier up without _amplified power_, and with it? I couldn't even imagine.

"Tomorrow night, at the banquet-ball, you will be scattered amoung the group, listening in to individual's thoughts. Privacy of mind does not exist here for safety reasons. Times are dangerous now, for all beings, not just vampires. Feel free to wander around the grounds, but be wary of any danger. They may not try to kill you, immediately, but as one of you has already found out, Slayers are very willing to capture. Enjoy your evening. Tomorrow night you start to work."

As she turned to walk out, the Europeans all stood. I followed suit, feeling dizzy as I did so, trailing behind the mass. Isabella turned left, but we were directed by Edan to go right. The mass of humans went through a set of large double doors that we had each come through to get to the sitting room. This time, however, I noticed the markings engraved in the wood, markings which looked similar to the one the creepy girl drew in the air to get the ghost maid to come.

One of the Europeans shut the door after all of us had passed. This Regina must have liked her privacy. Speaking of which. . .

When were we going to see this mysterious woman? I mean really, sending her daughter to meet us? Well, okay, I guess since she was a telepath it was understandable, but shouldn't she have the decency to greet us since she was the one making us all come?

These royal pain-in-my-ass vampires were all the same.

I followed the group, hoping that at least a few of them were heading back to the telepath wing. I barely recalled where I was going and many of the hallways looked exactly the same. Knowing my luck, I would get lost and end up wandering somewhere that I probably shouldn't have been in the first place.

"Are you going back to your room?" Helen asked me, almost like a mother to a child. It was a bit insulting, but I tried not to take it personally. Maybe it was just how she was.

"Well, I _want_ to go back to my room, I just don't exactly know where it is from here," I replied with a sigh. She smiled, as though she had been expecting that answer.

"I'm going back as well, so I can show you. We've had a few more days here than you have. It's only right that you haven't found your way around yet." The group split off as individuals decided to leave and go elsewhere. Soon, it was just Helen, Barry, and I heading to our rooms. "You know, I wanted to ask. . . what Isabella said about someone learning of the Slayer's nature—the kidnapping, was it you? I know it wasn't any of us, so it must be an American. Did you have an incident with the Slayers?"

I was a little surprised that she asked me about my encounter. I was even more surprised that she had been able to figure out that it had been me. She couldn't use her telepathic abilities on me, after all, so how had seen known so quickly.

"Yeah, it was me. But how did. . .?"

"You were the one most interested in the Slayers, I just figured that you had already met one or two," the British woman said with a shrug.

"Two of them. They tricked me into thinking that they were the people sent to pick me up from my house. I guess another one was supposed to switch driving or something, because we had to stop. That Des came out of the shadows and killed one—she kissed him. That was a lovely sight," I muttered dryly.

"Her death kiss. She sucks the darkness out of them. Humans are dark creatures by nature, so it's like sucking out their life force. It's not pretty," sighed Helen. "Well, here we are. If you will excuse me, I'm going to change before I go out exploring." She gave Barry and I one last smile before heading to a room to our left. I waved to her and hurried to my own. I didn't want to be around Barry. He was being incredibly quiet and making the situation awkward. I guessed we weren't speaking.

I placed my finger on the scanner pad, waited for the green light, and then opened my door. I slid inside of my room, shutting it behind me. Sighing, I jumped on my bed. Moments later, I remembered how long it had taken me to do my hair and quickly sat up, smoothing it down. Where was my Alieve? I needed some to get rid of this headache I had. I forced myself out of my bed and into my bathroom so that I could search for some painkillers. It took me a few moments, but I managed.

Maybe my boyfriend had called me, or sent me a text message. Nothing. Well, there was that banquet ball thing tomorrow, so maybe he was just busy. He shouldn't be too busy for me! Okay. Not getting into this mental battle once more.

Fine. I would just go out and explore.

I would have a nice time, damnit.

""

_**t.b.p.: eh, so it took a few days. It's better than a few months, right?? I'm honestly not sure when the next chapter will be out, as work is coming to an end, and school is starting up soon. I'm going to try my best to get it out though, I promise. **_

_**Powerhungry, as always, thanks, hahaha.**_

_**MerryXgirl, I know, I do have typos. You should read some of my older stuff though. Now THEY are bad. I don't re-read my stuff. I just don't have the time. I would never get anything updated if I tried to edit my own work. I could get a Beta, but then, I would stop updating all together, I know. So, I've gotten a lot better at just not having the typos. I still do, though they are usually because I'm typing what I have written down, so I'm not watching what I type. Sorry 'bout the typos though, ahaha. Thanks for reviewing. **_

_**Everyone else. . . review. Seriously. Not joking. I see you clicking. I've had like two hundred visitors. This Reader Traffic is very helpful, you know, in seeing that I have many different people who are just TOO LAZY to give me a review. So do it. Or I'm going to have creepy Edan wake you up at midnight and gouge out your eyes with spoons O.o. **_

_**. . .**_

_**Review.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

I left my room, letting the door automatically lock as it shut behind me. What should I do? Where should I go? I had no idea what was around this _Palace_ and even less of an idea where I was allow to be. Maybe I would just go and find someone who could tell me a bit about what I could do—like Jonathan. Surely he could give me some ideas. Finding him, though, would be incredibly difficult.

After wandering around aimlessly for a bit, which I predicted would be a reoccurring theme while here, I managed to find the grand staircase that I had been forbidden to use the night before. I walked down, the marble beneath me causing my high heels to echo with each step. The lights were on now—the actual lights, not just the candles that had been lit up the previous night. Still, the entryway had a very inviting, pleasant atmosphere.

There was no one around. No one was in the entry hall, it was completely empty. Where were the bellhops? The hired help? I made my way back to the back door, where lights were also on even though not as many and found one of the bellhop desks. No one. With a sigh, I went and leaned on the desk, brushing a few loose strands of hair from my eyes. A few moments passed and I got a little bit antsy as I started drumming my fingers against the cherry wood desk. There _was_ a small, silver bell. Should I ring it? With a shrug, I lightly tapped the bell. Even with such a small amount of force, the sound of the ring shattered the silence, startling even me.

"I am so sorry!" A voice called from the other room as Jonny came running out, "I fell asleep! Please don't tell my supervisor!" He skid to a stop in front of me, fixed his hat, and stood straight. "Can I do something for you, Miss Stackhouse?"

"Oh, well, yes," I replied, "I was just wondering what there was to do around here. I was told that I had the night to explore, but I'll tell you, I don't know where the heck to start!" I smiled widely, folding my hands.

"No problem, I can help you there," Jonny the bellhop scrambled to open one of the desk drawers and pull out a piece of paper, "here's one of the maps. I know, I know, it's sad that we hae to have maps, but so much is still under construction that we want people to clearly see where they can and cannot go."

"That makes sense; I don't want to end up accidentally in aa hallway that doesn't have a sturdy floor or something," I commented thoughtfully.

"Exactly. On top of that, we have plenty of things to do out on the grounds, but some sections are being dug out right now, and aren't very attractive," he explained, "okay, so, over here are some of our gardens. There's a large pond and waterfall there, along with an outdoor bar. About 800 yards away is where the pool is going, but that's not open yet, so skip that. Over here are the stables. The Regina is very fond of horses so there are some amazing animals there. It's clean too, since it attracts many visitors—you know, the undead guests enjoy taking them out for a ride. I guess it's just part of remembering their old lives. Oh, there are a lot of walkways too, if you're interested in a stroll, just stay away from anything that isn't well lit. There's really not danger to you, but it's better not to snoop."

I had listened patiently as the other human pointed to different segments of the property. I thanked Jonny and took a few copies of the map and shoved them into my pockets (I hadn't felt the need to take my purse from my room, knowing that I wasn't going to be leaving the grounds any time soon.)

It was a nice night, and I figured some fresh air would do some good. The necklace I was made to wear to apparently heighten my telepathic abilities was making me sick—my head was pounding, my stomach was doing flip flops. . . not to mention the fact that my mind was working in overdrive just to keep my mental guard up. Getting out of that darned _Palace_ seemed to be a very appealing idea; at least to me it was.

I just had to avoid everyone else outside, living or undead. It didn't matter. Just had to avoid them _all._

"What should I do first?" I asked myself as I left the building. Starting along the smooth stone pathway, I checked out the map once more, deciding that going to the gardens would be a nice start. It was in the very opposite direction of the pond/lake/thing, and considering I didn't want to be anywhere near a body of water at this time of night (though it was still pretty early for most of the guests staying in the building,) I chose to stay far away.

The last thing I needed was to be pushed in while no one was around to hear me scream.

As I neared one of the large gardens I had decided to check out, noticed that I could smell it before I could see it. It wasn't bad. . . just a bit overbearing. Pale lights that were hidden amongst the flowers and trees clicked on as I entered the area—motion activated, I assumed, but only _after_ I had jumped in surprise. I guess that's one way to conserve energy. . . After the gardens were visible, fully, I saw why there was such a strong scent.

Lilies were everywhere. I could only name a few—Peace, Pixie, Starburst, Tiger. . . I had never even heard of some of the types, much less seen them. Maybe the Regina had decided to pay for genetically engineered flowers—people did that, right? If this vampire queen had such a thing for lilies, than I wouldn't put it past her. Walking through, examining the different breeds of flowers, I smiled to myself. I couldn't help but think of the scene from _Alice in Wonderland_ where the talking flowers tormented Alice for having _ugly petals. _Well, I wondered if these extravagant lilies thought that I had un-pretty petals too. I reached down with the intention of plucking a small flower from its stem, but stopped when I decided that I might get into trouble for doing it. A few seconds later, I whirled around.

A man was standing at the other entrance. "Go ahead," he said to me, "no one will notice if you take just one." Glancing him over, he had red-brown hair and wore a suit. He wasn't towering tall, but tall enough to be sort of intimidating to me. He was human; his brain activity was what caused me to turn around. I wouldn't have noticed him otherwise.

"Sneaking up on people isn't very nice, you know," I stated, putting my hands on my hips, trying to look as though he didn't make me as nervous as he actually did. He reminded me of the Slayers I had encountered the previous night.

"Well, you must forgive me for that. Catching people off guard is sort of what I do—though I usually only do it to vampires, not to pretty women who looked very out of place in the nighttime," he told me, his voice very causal. The man took a few steps forward, and I gave him space to pass, thinking that was what he wanted to do. He didn't though. Instead, he stopped just a few feet away from me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, raising a brow.

"Healthy, naturally blonde hair. Evenly tanned skin, but not the salon, the fake, tan—no, probably from time spent sunbathing outside. You're just someone who clearly belongs to the sun. Very out of place in the moonlight." He reached down and picked one of the swirled pink lilies from its shoot and handed it to me, saying, "Aleister."

I assumed _Aleister_ meant his name.

"I don't just give my name out to anyone,mister _Aleister_. Especially to guys who scare the heck out of me by creeping up out of nowhere," I stated, taking the flower anyhow and watching him suspiciously. He just chuckled at me.

"Perhaps that is a wise choice. Some say giving one's name to another gives that other person control over them, did you know? Some supernatural being are still bound by their name, possibly from ancient tradition or magic, if you believe in that sort of thing." The man called Aleister backed up and bowed slightly to me, "well, I have other people to go startle." He turned and headed to the entrance I had come through. Before he left though, he paused and glanced back, "have a good evening. . . Miss Stackhouse."

A shiver went down my spine when he smiled darkly and said my name. Way to make me feel uncomfortable, creep. Without waiting for another awkward moment to pop up, I turned and fled in the opposite direction.

""

_**t.b.p.:**__ I know, you are all terribly surprised to see that I've updated. I'm sooo sorry! I've had the first part of the chapter written for some time, but I lost the other half. I hate when that happens. It totally makes me NOT want to write anymore. But, the time seems to have done me some good, because I'm able to work on solidifying the plot. AS FOR ALL OF YOU DEMANDING MORE ERIC: honestly, he is not one of my favorite characters (I know, how is that possible, right?) But, he will be in it more in the coming chapters, I promise. I just haven't decided how much of the plot he's going to be entangled with. _

_merryXgirl: more Quinn and Sookie in chapters to come. Thanks for letting me know I'm doing okay!_

_powerhungry, officefan79, Brittany, DethRose, ladysakura, __'__, cat66901, vamp momma, txone, td4bz, alberta cowgrl: glad you're all liking in. Office, good to know I made you smile :)_

_WRenn: you're right, that was a bit out of character, I apologize with that. I was going somewhere with it, but then changed my mind at the last minute and changed some things so it's totally out of place. Forgive me._

_Adrianerose, Lady Alathea, jen, mollib: I will try to get you some more Eric haha, I promise._

_WalksOfLife: thank you very much, your review was very encouraging. Really, it was. I finally updated for reviewers like you who seem to like me so much, haha. (Don't get me wrong everyone else, I still update for you too!) A Beta would be AMAZING, send me a PM if you are still interested!!!_

_GaijinVamp: I'm a freshman! Thanks for reviewing!! Your review was very encouraging and insightful, so you're perfectly good at it!_

_laenamoradadeROGUE: I'm glad you're like my story as well! Don't worry, Bill and Eric will both be in it, I promise. Also, thank you for letting me know you like how I'm setting things up, that's very helpful!_

_Thanks everyone for getting me to come back! Also, thank you for making my fic one of the most popular Sookie Stackhouse stories!!!! You will, hopefully, see me soon (some of the excitement should be coming up in a few!) Please review!!_

_A/N: I used to work a floral department. I know how strongly lilies smell. And there will be a significance to all the lilies, I promise._


	12. Chapter 12

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

After my strange encounter with that even stranger human, I thought that maybe staying around people was a good idea. Safety in numbers, right? I headed along the walkway, letting my telepathic barrier slip just enough to hear that there were people nearby. Or so I thought. Turns out, my necklace seemed to be working. Others weren't as close as I thought, instead, my mind was just picking up on a further distance and much more clearly, than I was used to. I sighed in relief when I turned a corner and saw a small group of shifters arguing over something. When they spotted me, they quickly approached, looking eager to say something. "Hey, can we ask you something? We want an outsider's opinion," a young lady with dark hair pulled back into a tight bun asked.

"Well, sure, I guess. But I will put this disclaimer out there—you can ask, but if I don't want to, I don't have to answer," I replied, wisely deciding that I didn't want to commit myself to answering personal or just flat out ridiculous questions. The female looked back at her companions, two guys and two more girls, who shrugged and nodded.

"Okay, obviously we aren't any of the Europeans who traveled here. Most of them seem totally comfortable here, and _not _just the vampires," she started to set up for her question, adding on the last part probably because of the look I was giving her. "All of the people from over seas who have dealt with this _Regina_ don't seem to think anything's going on. But I saw that something is. Even some of the vampires who have lived here for a while are on edge. Do you think that's strange? Am I totally out of my mind, or is something _really_ unnatural going on here?" The young woman seemed to be pleading with me to agree with her. I looked at the others, who only had an expression of disbelief. I shook my head.

"No," I blatantly lied, "I don't find anything any more out of the ordinary than the supernatural creatures here—vampires and others." There, they could take from it what they would like. It was ambiguous enough, but I still answered the question.

"I agree," a male voice said from behind me, nearly causing me to jump out of my own skin, "I've lived in this country for sometime, but I don't think there is anything out of the unusual here. You also have to realize that the vampires who seem to be _on edge_ here have come to expect some surprise or shocker—we've come to expect it with all of the incidents that have happened in past gatherings. The Europeans don't believe they have anything to worry about. Those of us who were in the Pyramid when it was blown up or at the Louisiana verses Arkansas battle know to be prepared. That doesn't necessarily mean something's going on." I didn't need to turn around to look behind me at the owner of the voice. The shifter woman sighed; disappointed with the responses she was given.

"I guess we're all entitled to our own opinions. You haven't convinced me though." She turned back to her little group. They all kept walking along, and my guess that it was because of the vampire who was now watching them from behind me. Not only did Were creatures of any sort typically not like the undead, but they were discussing suspicions; they probably didn't want him to hear any of their theories and have him get them into trouble.

"Jesus, Eric, you jerk!" I shrieked and wished I had my bag with me so I could whack him with it. I settled with using my flower. "You are the _second_ guy to do that to me tonight! Sneaking up on people can be dangerous, you know! You're gonna do that to someone some time and regret it!" I was going to turn around and walk away, but he met me at my side instead. He was wearing a suit, one that I had a suspicion was Armani (though I've never been good with designers), and had his blonde hair pulled back. I thought back to the vampire Isabella and her blonde hair—hers contrasted greatly with both Eric's and mines, as hers was almost white. Eric shoved his hand into his pocket and offered me his arm.

"I think you're confused, Sookie. The term is _Jesus Christ_ not _Jesus Eric._ Though I am flattered you relate me to Christ. Come now, take my arm. I could practically taste the fear radiating from you. I'll keep you safe," said the vampire, smirking. I scrunched my nose up, groaned, and then reluctantly took his arm. "I hope it wasn't those annoying shifters that frightened you. They weren't exactly threatening."

"No," I sighed, "just some weird guy. He was the most vampiric human I think I've ever met." The two of us started to walk along, Eric leading the way. He seemed to have a particular destination in mind. I didn't really think he would do anything to upset me, especially now that I was in the Regina's telepathic entourage, so I followed without asking questions.

"Are you sure he was human?"

"Oh, definitely. His thoughts were broadcasted loudly. I blocked him out with full force." He shrugged after I spoke, glancing down at my chest. I was ready to cold him, but realized that he was looking at the necklace I was wearing. "Maybe it was louder because of my thing, but he was human, not a Were or anything like that."

"Perhaps he was something else. Practically everyone, every group, has come out for a piece of the action," Eric stated, his tone just a bit too matter-of-fact-ly for my liking. "By the way, I enjoyed your very cryptic response to the shifters. 'No more unnatural than the supernatural.' They're arrogant, those shifters, so I'm sure that meant basically nothing to them. They think they're ordinary, and everyone else isn't."

"You aren't natural."

"True."

We fell into an unusual silence for us. Typically, he was very playful, and well, lively. Not so much now. "So, is it true what they said?" I asked, keeping my tone casual. If I sounded too curious, he might feel absolutely obligated to answer, and maybe I didn't really want to know what he would tell me. "Are the 'American' vampires on edge being here?" Eric didn't respond right away, but a shifter had just scurried passed us to apparently catch up with the other shifter group. Maybe he didn't want that guy to hear.

"I cannot pretend to know what all of us are thinking," the male vampire stated with a shrug. "Many of us left Europe to escape the Regina's domination. Anyone who opposed her was slaughtered—though she may do things slightly different now that she has the attention of so much of the world. She has allies in basically all supernatural groups, even Slayers, so I hear. Other than that Edan, of course—she's more of a slave than an ally. When I left, she was gaining more power in Eastern Europe: now-former soviet countries and even the Middle East. She hadn't turned her sights on the relatively new country of the United States, so it was a haven for those of us who wanted to set up our own government. And now, now she's here. You can understand why the American's are on edge and a bit unhappy."

"I don't understand," I said, shaking my head, "even some of the humans here seemed to like this Regina and what she's doing. I thought she was here to meet with the Slayers regarding what to do about the Fellowship of the Sun. You think she's here for a take over?" Eric inhaled deeply, which was sort of strange since vampires didn't necessarily breath, and pulled his hand out of his pocket to rub the back of his next.

"No," he said slowly as he exhaled, "not really a take over—not yet at least. This may just be the start of things. You may not even be alive when she takes over. She's already ancient to begin with; time is nothing to her. A year to her is like a single breath. The older you are, the faster time goes, the easier it is to set out on a campaign that may take decades, or centuries. She's trying to take over the world and she already has most of Europe under her control. Once she gets the U.S., she can turn to Asia, which won't be too difficult since their vampire governments are incredibly unstable. After she has the major superpowers, no one will be able to stand up to her. She can do whatever she wants."

"What would be the point of that? Just to say that she did?"

"Who knows."

We changed the topic as we continued. The conversation about the Regina had suddenly turned tense and put an awkward silence between us again. Instead, we discussed one of Eric's favorite topics—me. I can't say that it was a less awkward of an idea to talk about though. It was just something I wasn't comfortable with. He, on the other hand, was totally content asking me tons of personal questions. Finally, while I was getting my fill inquiry pertaining to my relationship status with Quinn, I had decided that was enough. I stopped walking and removed my arm from the vampire's. "Where are we going? You haven't stopped once to thin about which turn to take or which direction to go in. Maybe you should just take me back to the Palace. I've had about enough fright for the time being, and I don't care much for the determined look on your face. Or that stupid smile."

"Come on now, Sookie, don't be stubborn. Let's keep going," Eric said, appearing to be rather amused by _my_ determination to not keep going anywhere with him.

"I want to go back."

"Don't you trust me?"

I stopped and thought about it—he really hadn't given me a reason to not trust him. . . but I was so uncomfortable with every and all bloodsuckers at the moment that it was difficult to act like friends. If he refused to take me back, then I would have to go by myself and I didn't know the way back or who I would run into. Then again, if he did something to intentionally upset me, I could probably get him into a lot of trouble if I told that Isabella. Sighing, I let him come closer to me and put his hand on the small of my back, slightly urging me forward. I picked up walking, but clearly showed that I was not happy about it.

We went to the stables. Of all places he could pick, he picked the stables. Outside, we could see stable hands running about, probably getting ready to let the horses out for the night. The building was very large, and not like what I thought of when I imagined a _stable. _Walking in, I was surprised at the line of horses in pens. There were so many—all with their own blocked off area, with a constant supply of cool water and a back door in each pen, though those were currently blocked off. I turned to Eric to ask him if he liked horses, but became terrified.

He was no longer smiling. In fact, his fangs were showing.

Eric still had hold of me, and started to drag me forward, his sights seemingly set on one of the poor, innocent animals all penned up. "Let go! You're hurting me!" I tried to struggle, but that was obviously useless. He pulled me along, nearly tripping me because of the force he tugged me with. He stepped up on the movable step in front of one particular pen and I followed. Stumbling forward, I had to catch myself from slipping, and I looked down as I did so. I saw what caused him to go into bloodsucker mode.

""

_**t.b.p.: There. Eric is now involved. Will you freaking leave me alone now? Just kidding. About the leaving me alone part, not the Eric being involved part. . . Well, I'm back at work, and rather bored out of my mind. So it looks like a few chapters will be out before I return to school. Hopefully, once the plot gets rolling, I won't wait months before updating! And I can honestly say, getting so many reviews helps my inspiration! **_

_**vmp1, ErinCullen, merryXgirl, alberta cowgrl, JJ, PenelopeSky: thanks so much, guys, I'm glad you like it, and I hope you will all continue to read!**_

_**Wrenn: thanks for reviewing again. Happy Holidays to you as well, and if things go as planned, you should definitely get updates in the New Year!**_

_**LIZ03: You're right up there with every other fan girl who loves Eric, haha. Hope you enjoyed it though.**_

_**Adrianerose: Holding your breath for a few days is easier than holding it for a few months, huh? XP Another one should be on its way after Christmas. I will be still bored at work, haha. **_

_**Billsbedroom: Bill may or may not play an important role. I would like to try to get all of the characters involved, and I think I may have a way for him to be very significant. I just haven't decided how to get him to that part. . .**_

_**TurnedByEric: Spontaneous combustion would be bad. The very flammable vampires would be incredibly angry if you accidentally lit them on fire when you exploded. Anyhow, I'm glad you are enjoying this. I think you may have caught on at a good time, since a few more chapters should get dished out, and hopefully I will complete this in the next few months.**_

_**Thanks you all who are reading! Please keep reviewing!!**_

_**P.S. Does NO ONE know where this title came from??? Really??? I'm the only one?? C'mon people!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

There was a body of a girl laying in the straw of a particularly large, black stallion's pen. The animal seemed wild, even infuriated by the intrusion into his domain. I could see that the horse had already managed to trample on the leg of the dead—wait. "Eric, Eric _please_ snap out of it! She's alive! We have to get her out of there or she'll die!" I had thought that she was dead, but the girl laying in a bloody mess was unconscious, trying desperately to hang onto what life she had let. There was so much blood, and it was everywhere inside of the pen; I wasn't sure how Eric would react if I left him alone long enough to find any help. "Oh Lord, what should I do? What should I do?"

Right, okay, calm down Stackhouse—think.

I remembered calling Barry way back when I was in Dallas. Maybe I could mentally shout for help and another telepath would hear me? It was the best I had, and definitely worth a shot. I squeezed my eyes shut and grasped the diamond of my necklace in my hands. Even though I wasn't really going to scream, I inhaled deeply, as if I were going to do it. _Somebody HELP!_

Okay. I gave it a try. What was I expecting, really? People to start talking back in my head? That would make me crazy and—_'Miss Stackhouse?' _It was the voice of Isabella. She must have heard me! _'Where are you? I will send you aid immediately.'_

Slightly excited that it had worked, I help onto the gem tighter and continued to concentrate. _Stables. I'm in the stables. There's blood, but not a vampire. Don't send a vampire, my friend Eric is going crazy. I've never seen him act like this before, even around so much blood. I-I'm afraid._

'_There is no need to shout, Miss Stackhouse, I can hear you just fine. Now don't worry about anything, help should be arriving any moment. If your friend can hardly contain himself, I should venture a guess that there is an injured Slayer nearby. Be careful, your call will have alerted anyone nearby who has a psychic bone in their body. That includes Slayers who will not be happy to find you and a vampire with a wounded or dying slayer. Understand?'_

I blushed a bit and nodded, then realized that she couldn't see that. _Yes ma'am, I understand._ She didn't respond this time, and I opened my eyes just in time to see the demon Desdemona appearing out of nowhere, right next to me.

"My, my, Miss Stackhouse, don't you just draw trouble to yourself?"

I didn't respond to the demonic woman as she waved me away from the step I was standing on so that she could see into the deep pen. Eric turned his sights on her and even tried to grab her. I had already determined the previous evening that anyone who tried to hurt her had made a bad choice. She had managed to kill a guy with just a kiss after all. I would say she was dangerous enough. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the vampire flying against the door of one of the pens behind us. Most interesting was the fact that he stuck to it, instead of sliding down like I would have expected. As I looked closer, I could see that he was held in place by what appeared to be shadows.

It was clear to me now that Desdemona was some sort of demon that could manipulate shadows at will. I jumped back to reality when my vampire friend started snarling. More people were coming into the stables. Judging by the very unhappy looks plastered to all of their faces, they were Slayers. I turned around to say something to Desdemona, but what that was, I'm not really sure now. My words escaped me when I saw her raising the dying woman from the floor with a cushion of darkness. She moved her hands in fluid motions, guiding the body along as she hung rather limply in the air. She looked much like a rag doll to me. Over the edge of the pen gate, she went towards the center of the floor, far away from Eric.

I wasn't the only one momentarily awestruck. Some of the other humans standing there were as well.

"Well, I've done my job—"

"You killed her!" Desdemona was just about to turn and walk away when one of the Slayers stepped forward, pointing at her with his accusation. She laughed at him. It was a _very_ cruel laugh.

"Me? Killed her? Well of course not! If I had killed her, she would be a pile of grey flesh—this is not my M.O." As she spoke, she had a smirk on her lips. Looking at her, I honestly got the impression that she was evil. She was what the stereotypical demon was supposed to be. "Besides," she spoke again, adding lightly, "she's not dead yet, is she Miss Stackhouse?"

"No," I replied, "but she needs help, medical attention. You can't just leave her here!" I was half shocked that the woman was ready to leave and not do anything to help the poor girl, but I was half expecting her to do something just like that. Demons. Just as bad as vampires, if not worse. I didn't like either.

"Yes, I can. Her people are here—they can handle it. Now, Mr. Northman, what to do with you?" The pale woman asked aloud, though I knew she wasn't going to get an answer. She placed a slender finger to her check and tapped lightly. "I guess I'm going to have to lead you out of here like the dog you are. Come along now like a good boy. You too, Stackhouse." She turned on her heel, her hand at about her shoulder and looking like it was holding something. Eric stumbled forward as though he was jerked forward by some invisible force. I glanced over at the group surrounding the bleeding girl. A few drew in the air using their hands, creating symbols that simply. . . appeared.

Edan had done that when summoning that maid. . . thing. . . with the cart. I had never seen people do that before coming here. What was it, magic? Yes. It was. Well, I decided that it was, since the girl seemed to heal slowly after they started doing whatever it was that they were doing to her. One looked up and glared at me. I turned right around and followed after the dark haired demon who was pulling a certain blonde haired vampire behind her.

Once we were far enough away from the stables, and of course the blood, Eric seemed to snap out of his berserk state. "Demon! Stop this! I'm quite capable of walking without you leading me by a leash!" I guess I saw what he meant; sometimes when we would pass by a light, I could see dark marks and areas that looked like a rope or something pulling him. Actually, it was an amusing sight, and I was pretty sure I would never let him live it down. Finally, he regained movement and Desdemona faced him, smirking.

"Now, if you're a good boy, maybe I will give you a treat," she stated, winking at him. He just scowled.

"There's nothing I could ever want from you." It was a surprising comment, knowing Eric's womanizer personality and just how beautiful the demon was.

"Oh really?" The dark haired woman asked casually, "guess all of my treats will go to Thor instead." Eric growled, seemingly at the mention of the name _Thor_. Desdemona chuckled before backing into the dark, unlit tree line, disappearing moments after. I didn't like how she was able to get anywhere and everywhere there was darkness. Made locking the door pretty pointless.

"So," I started to say slowly, "are you okay and all now?" Eric rubbed his wrists where the shadows had bound him and then nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine—sane. Thanks for the concern," he replied with a slight playful smile, "Slayer blood always drives us crazy. That's why they hunt us: because if they didn't, we would probably kill them. Just how things are, kill or be killed, right?" He reached back and let his hair fall as he pulled out the tie that had held it back. When he was slammed against the gate of the pen, it has become messed up anyhow.

"It's not like that anymore though, right? I mean, now that vampires have gone public, they can't hunt you like they used to. So you shouldn't have to worry about them killing you," I commented. I'm sure it sounded totally naïve, but it seemed logical enough for me. Of course, I was wrong, and it seemed that I understood absolutely nothing. But was that my fault? I only know what goes on in the United States vampire world because I've rather unwillingly been part of it. How should I know about Europe and what the laws are there, especially the unwritten ones that everyone knew but me.

"Sook, that's what this entire gathering is about. We, the vampires, don't attack anyone as much as we used to—so it's better for the humans in that sense, even though it still happens. The Slayers haven't stopped coming after us or other supernatural beings. They've only slowed since now they have to be more discreet. The Regina is supposedly going to try to negotiate peace and figure out a way to stop the Fellowship of the Sun, since the U.S. plays such a major rule in vampire politics. Even the Slayers don't like the Fellowship though since they will kill innocent humans, and the Slayers are very much against that. It's doubtful that anything's going to change though. They Slayers will never make any concessions and the Regina will try to seize power over the United States' vampires. Simple as that," he tried to explain, frowning. He stepped forward, putting his hands on either one of my arms sternly. "I'm going to take you back in now. If that attack on the Slayer was an attempted murder, then I don't want you out here all alone, and I've got some business to take care of. Even inside, try to stay in groups. There are many untrustworthy people here. It's almost impossible to tell who is friend and who is now, understand? You need to be careful."

I nodded to Eric slowly as he started to guide me back to the Palace, my arm in his. I may not have liked the vampires right now, not one bit, but if I had to deal with them and their world, at least I knew I had a friend who genuinely wanted to protect me.

""

_**t.b.p.: That's it! For 2008, at least. I have just two more days of work, so at least one more chapter will be out before I go back to school. Possibly more depending on how bored I am while at home. Remember, good reviews help me update quicker!**_

_**SumFatChic: Yup. You got it. I'm a big A Perfect Circle fan. I can't please everyone—some like Bill, some like Quinn, and most like Eric. I haven't decided who will be the most romantically involved by the end. For now, Quinn is her boyfriend still. At least for the time being.**_

_**Alberta Cowgrl: Haha, there. You have now seen why Eric had his fangs out.**_

_**ErinCullen, PLH, JJ, PenelopeSky: I'm glad you guys like it!**_

_**LIZ03: Haha, I've said that I'm not the biggest Eric fan!! But he will have some important parts. He is the only one of Sookie's friends who has had dealings with the Europeans, you know, since he DID come over from there!**_

_**DethRose: I like cliffhangers hahahahaha**_

_**Mollib: I don't often give into reader demands. . . but Eric was going to come in sooner or later, so I just made it sooner!**_

_**AdrianeRose: hahaha, I didn't want to be an accomplice to suicide if I had you hold your breath for three months!! But there, at least I got you another chapter before you decided to do something drastic, like go on a real hunger strike or something. . .**_

_**DaFalcon: I'm glad you liked the first chapte, and I hope you're still reading—even if just to see this!**_

_**APatterson: I'm also glad you like my story. I agree, Bill does seem to totally disappear which I think is a poor choice. Who knows, he is an errand boy for the Queen. . . I liked the character of Bill, so I'm sure I will end up bringing him in. I've come to the realization that my fic is going to be LONG. It takes me such a long time to get through the events because I like to make sure there are plenty of details so that the days just aren't flying by. . . I just hope I finish it.**_

_**Everyone else. . . REVIEW!!! OR DESDEMONA WILL KISS YOU! **_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**the black panther **_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

Eric walked me the entire way back to my room. There was a good chance that he was just trying to be a gentleman, but now he knew where I was staying too. At least I was quite sure that he couldn't get in, since the key pad was set to just my fingerprint, and I definitely didn't plan on letting him into my room. I wasn't inside for long before there was a knocked on my door. Cautiously, I peered out to see who was at my door. With a relieved sigh, I opened it and offered a smile to Helen. "Hello, Sookie, some of us were going to go down to one of the dining rooms to eat, and I thought perhaps you would like to join us. It's much nicer to go through these gatherings when you know more than just a handful of people, it really is."

"I would love to," I replied with a smile, "I don't want to be around my. . . friends. . .right now. It would be nice to be around more humans." I would have loved to be with Quinn, of course, but with the whole ball thing coming up, I knew that wasn't going to happen. And even though I really wanted to make friends with more people like me, there was a sort of reluctance sitting in the pit of my stomach.

Eric's words still rang out clear in my head: _"it's almost impossible to tell who is friend and who is not."_

Right now, I was going to ignore then anyhow. I was just going downstairs, after all. "You're having a hard time with the vampires, aren't you?" I nodded in response to Helen's question before she continued on, "Mike saw a vampire leaving from your room when he came to get me. Was he your boyfriend?"

"No," I laughed, "no, I'm dating the guy who does all of the supernatural events. His name's Quinn. The vampire was Eric; he's one of the state sheriffs." I didn't know why I was telling her this—there was no reason I should let the older woman in on my personal life, but I told her despite that.

"Ah, I see now. Jacob, aren't you coming with us?" Helen called out to the Frenchman who was squabbling with the Irish native. He frowned and shut his door roughly.

"Yes, I'm coming! I just do not appreciate this bastard shouting obscene things while my fiancé is on the phone. She gets very inquisitive as to what I'm doing when she hears someone talking about chatting up the busty blonde in the room next to mine," Jacob snapped and I raised my brow. My room was next to his, even if our doors were a good twenty feet apart. Mike just laughed, slightly embarrassed, and grinned at me. I gave an awkward, forced smile. "The others?"

"Uh, yeah, them. They already headed down to get us a large table. Doubt it'll be too crowded, but that Barry-boy insisted that he go down, so Cristina and the three other Americans went with him," Mike replied immediately.

"Three?" I asked, "shouldn't there be six of us in total?"

"Yeah, there is, but the one girl yelled at me and threw a shoe at the door when I knocked. She was still sleeping," the Irishman stated with a shrug. I found his accent very cute, "I know it was a shoe because the heel hit the floor, and I know the sound of a lady's heel." I even laughed at his added comment.

"Well, what about Juliano and Tomas? They aren't joining us either?"

"No, you know how they are. Loners to the end, I'm afraid," sighed Helen who took a stop towards the two guys, "have you eaten yet, Sookie?"

"I haven't," I shook my head and responded, stepping out from my room. I had grabbed my purse, which I set on the table about a food or so from the entrance, just in case. It would be embarrassing if I needed cash bug didn't bother to bring my purse. We headed down as a group, chatting along the way. I didn't actually contribute much; I listen more than anything. They seemed to know right where we were going, so I had bet they had gone to wherever we were eating before. I wondered how long they had been in the Palace before I got here. . .

Turns out, we were eating in one of the areas I had seen when Jonny took me to my room. It had kind of an old fashioned Inn feel—we walked through double glass doors into a carpeted room done in dark mahogany wood. The engravings were nice, but not as intracite or as detailed as some of the wood working in my own room. There was an old record player humming some soft instrumental music, and a bar in the corner. A bartender stood behind it, cleaning some shot glasses while a guy sat nearby, drinking. Towards one side of the room, there was a large, rough table with enough seats to fit ten people, even though only nine had decided to show up. I recalled the few people sitting around the bale, but couldn't think of their names to save the life of me. One was Barry, obviously, and he as in deep conversation with the girl next to him. He glanced my way but nothing more. I didn't let that bother me.

Us four claimed our sears and I ended up sitting between Helen and Mike. They introduced Cristina to me, who was from Portugal, and then I asked a few Americans their names. I apologized for not remembering, but no one seemed to mind too much. A waited came by shortly after to take our drinks—and oh boy did we get drinks. The Europeans immediately ordered full bottles of alchohol for all of us to share, since that was how they drank in groups. I ordered water, not wanting to drink with people I didn't know. Mike insisted that I trysome of the Irish beer he ordered though, since I made the mistake of saying I hadn't ever tried the authentic stuff. I admit, it was good. Very flavorful. However, even though I worked in a bar, I wasn't a heavy drinker, and it was too much for me to have more than a few sips of. I did find it surprising that it wasn't kept in a bottle, but stored on tap. Guess that was just how those Irish did it.

Towards the end of. . . dinner? Or was this considered lunch? It was nearly two in the morning and I never did get used to the sleep all day thing. Anyhow, when we were all just sitting around and drinking, conversation started to slow, and there was a strange silence. At one point, Jacob looked off, staring at nothing in particular. "Something happened. People are making a great fuss over an incident of some sort. Possibly a death? A near death? We someone was hurt, and badly. Slayer medics are having a hard time cleaning it up. . ."

"I girl," I sighed and looked down at my drink—ice water with lemon again. "Found in the stables."

"Did you Hear that?" Cristina asked me, her mouth practically hanging open, "not even Jacob could Hear that! He's the best of all of us!" I quickly shook my head, realizing that they thought I had used my own telepathic abilities.

"No, no. I. . . I was the one who found her. None of you heard me? Isabella did, and she said I was shouting. I thought you guys would have heard me too. . ."

"I thought I heard something, but I was resting, and I had taken my identifier off," the Frenchman replied.

"Cris and I thought we heard something but we were, uh, busy," Mike told me with a grin. The Portuguese girl hit him in the shoulder, glaring at him as he frowned and rubbed his arm.

"If no one else heard, then we probably aren't powerful enough to hear at such a distance." It was Helen who clarified and I nodded, understanding. "Will you tell us what happened?"

"I was walking with my friend Eric and we went to the stables. He started going crazy because there was a girl lying in this black horse's pen. I didn't know what had happened to her, but I know the horse had definitely stepped on her at least once. I called Isabella using telepathy because I didn't want to leave Eric with the girl. She sent Desdemona and then the Slayers showed up. They took care of her from there. That's all I know." I recounted my tale and the Frenchman sighed.

"I don't think she's going to make it."

"If only I could have gotten there a little sooner. . . maybe I could have helped or something. Maybe she wouldn't have bled so much. She was just a girl, maybe twelve or thirteen. I couldn't tried harder to help her. . ."

"I doubt it," he continued, "at best you might have seen her attacker. They did something to her. Cursed her or something. She bled out slowly—all of the Slayer's healing techniques were useless on her. Something blocked their power."

"What blocked it?" And American named Kaye asked, deeply interested. Jacob shook his head. He didn't know. He was just picking up thoughts.

"I have a question," I said after a few moments of silence. "You know those symbols Edan uses? Are those the same ones that Slayers use?" We were sort of on the topic, but not at the same time. Maybe it would help change the mood from the dismal one it was in now.

"Yes, they are the same. They are Runes—surely you've heard of those? They are frequently used in fantasy stories. They can only be drawn by certain people; typically by Slayers." Helen explained and I frowned, now confused once more.

"So Edan's a Slayer?"

"Well no," Cristina spoke up, "not necessarily. She's someone who can manipulate an element. All Slayers are elemental manipulators, but not all elemental manipulator's Slayers. Most of them are, but some may not be. No one knows a whole lot about that creepy girl, but I can't imagine that a Slayer would be working for the Regina. She's incredibly powerful after all, so it would probably be too dangerous to keep her around, especially since she's so involved with everything that goes on around her. So yes, she's a manipulator, but no, I don't think she's a Slayer."

Silence befell us for the umpteenth time. I sat there awkwardly, chewing my lip and shaking my ice around in my cup. Finally, another American said that he was ready to go back to his room and hang around for the night. A few stood and left, but I didn't. I waited for the Europeans I had come down with to decide to finish up. I thought that it would be rude since they were the ones who invited me to leave before them. "Sookie, did you stop by the Vestis room to get your dress yet?"

"What?" I replied to Helen, looking at her with a brow raised. What the hell was a _Vestis Room_? And why was I supposed to go?

"For the Ball tomorrow? Did you get your dress? Weren't you told that everything would be supplied for you here?" Cristina said, speaking slowly, and perhaps as if I were slightly stupid. I shook my head then nodded.

"Well, yeah, I was told that. But I guess I just hadn't thought about having to get a dress here, since no one told me before just now," I stated, a bit annoyed, "do they have to make it?"

"No, no, of course not. They have an assortment of designer dresses brought here—any tailoring will be done by the day crew for tomorrow night. I will show you on the way back to the room. Speaking of which, has everyone else finished up here?" The British woman asked all of us remaining telepaths.

"Yeah, I'd say so," Mike said with a large yawn, "oh I do love having an open bar. One of the best parts about doing these things—next to the money of course." The others seemed to agree with him. We began to stand and file out of the dining area, heading back upstairs. I followed Helen to the room she was talking to while the rest of the group walked towards our wing. Honestly, this place never ceased to amaze me. When I saw the collection that I was free to pick a dress from, I thought I could die a happy woman. When Tara let me pick cloths for free or at a discount price, I was always grateful and thrilled when I got something nice. But compared to this? If I got used to getting all of the top and most expensive things for free, I thought I may end up accidentally hurting my friend's feelings because I wouldn't want to buy from her any more.

I spent a good two hours with Helen, who was like a mother helping her daughter pick out a prom gown. One of the women working in the large room, which was more or less the size of a boutique, took my measurements and promised to have it ready to be picked up a few hours before the Ball. Jewelry was also supplied to match my diamond-like-gem necklace. Walking out, accessories in a bag hanging from my arm, with the British woman, I decided one thing.

This Regina woman didn't seem so bad after all, even though she was bribing us to work for her.

""

_**t.b.p.: First chapter for the New Year!!! Yay!!! Hopefully not the last!!! Sad news though. Tomorrow is my last day of work and then I go back to school (ducks down to avoid any flying objects, especially those that may be similar to shoes, frying pans, or spiders.) I'm having fun with this again, so hopefully I'm not going to let it die. But just so you know, when I'm getting a ton of reviews, it definitely inspires me. . . Next chapter will probably rather lengthy because it's going to be the start of and probably most of the Ball.**_

_**Another side note because Isabella is going to be back in on it—I call her Bella. But for any of those people, who may think that I took the name from those Twilight books, guess what? I've never read them. I will never read them. I've never seen the movie. I will never see the movie. Isabella is my own original character who I love very much, and has nothing to do with that other series. (I won't make any insulting comments about it, because I know many of my readers are Twilight fans—judging by their names and the other stories they have favorited.)**_

_**Morgan La Morta: I don't like kissing girls either hahahaha. Luckily, since the first semester is completely over and I have all knew classes, I had no homework over the break to try to do!**_

_**DethRose, MerryXGirl, Mollib, alberta cowgrl: I'm really glad you guys are liking my story and continue to review. I really appreciate knowing that I have people who stick through the story, even when it is seemingly dragging on!!!**_

_**kstina67: As for Bill, I'm just not entirely sure what I'm doing with him yet. He will be in it, but I cannot say for how much. He has moved from the focal point of the actual series, obviously, so it's harder to incorporate him logically. Not to mention the fact that he is an American born vampire. But, like I said, he will be in it at least a bit—I like Bill.**_

_**Everyone else. . . review! Right after I posted the chapter, I received over 2000 hits on the story! I know you guys are out there! Why don't you let me know what you think??**_

_**Thanks, tbp**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_** (formally the black panther)**_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

There were few times in my life that I felt as elegant as I did now. Sure, I had been able to buy beautiful gowns on Bill or Eric's tabs before, when they needed me, of course. But this was different. I was wearing _diamonds_ for Pete's sake. _Diamonds._

I had never in a million years hoped to wear more than maybe an expensive ring (every girl dreamed of receiving an amazing stone for their proposal. Don't deny it. It's true. We women want to make other women jealous,) and yet here I was, with a diamond necklace with matching earrings and bracelet. Granted, I hadn't gone for anything obnoxious—the earring set was dangly with a very small gem at the bottom, and the bracelet was a similar style. I didn't want to look overbearing or anything.

Still, as I walked down with Helen and Cris and the other women, I felt absolutely giddy. My dress was some color called "peony pink," and I thought it looked pretty good on me, if I do say so myself. It was a considered Grecian in design, with a V neck and rhinestone empire waist. Personally, I just liked how it was so flow-y and easy to move in.

I felt ridiculous in those tight dresses that required years of practice in heels and restricting outfits to even try to walk.

"My feet are _killing_ me," Kaye muttered from somewhere behind me. She must have just run up to join our little procession, because she definitely hadn't been anywhere in sight when we left our rooms in the first place. "I hate having to dress up. Give me baggy jeans and an old army jacket any day."

I couldn't help but raise a brow at her when she spoke. She was from New York or New Jersey or New something, but she liked to dress like Hoyt or J.B.—you know, those back wood red neck types. I guess I never would understand that Northern fashion.

Olivia, an American from Delaware, also started complaining about her shoes. I was quite glad that I had thought ahead and found a pair that may have not been overly high or extravagant, but were certainly comfortable. No one would really be able to see them anyhow, so I didn't see the point of making myself uncomfortable.

"Ah, lo siento," Maria from New Mexico breathed, rushing up to the edge of the stairs behind us, "my hair—it take _so_ long."

Ah, Maria. Let me tell you about Maria.

The Latino beauty was a D cup, as she so wonderfully told all of us, along with the fact that they were real, with a shapely behind. I did not like walking behind her, because inevitably, any men we passed, human or otherwise, stopped to watch her leave. She was tall with extremely long, dark hair. It was no wonder it took forever for the hairdressers to do her hair.

Speaking of which… I had not been able to get a hair dresser booked. I have no idea how she managed to slip in for an appointment (maybe I didn't want to know how she got in, actually,) but Helen had been kind enough to help me curl my hair and put it half up and leave half down. I found that I really liked her. She reminded me of a little bit younger version of my gram.

Maybe that's how my mother would have been, had she lived to see me all grown up.

"Alright ladies," Helen called out, clapping her hands together to get everyone's attention. "We will now descend the staircase, and then meet up with our respective partners. I will lead, Cris will be behind me, Sookie behind her, Maria, you will move up behind Sookie—yes, Kaye, there is an order to this, so move behind Miss Maria, thank you—and then Olivia you will be in the back. We will meet with our partners for the night, who are also already in order. Ready? Let's go."

The eldest woman's demeanor had drastically changed from her usual niceness. I think she was getting annoyed with us young ladies, since half of us (not myself, of course) had been running late. It was now 9:52, and we were supposed to have been all together and lined up almost ten minutes early. It would be extremely embarrassing for all of us to enter late, what with us all being special guests and all. Sort of.

We shifted around a bit to get into the correct line up and then the British woman led us out from behind the hallway wall, standing upright and proper. From what I had heard, her mother had once run a young ladies' prep school, so I wasn't surprised to see her perfect posture come out when it was important.

Down we went, each of us with a hand on the banister like we had practiced in the morning before going to bed.

There were some guests mingling in the grand hallway, many of which stopped their conversations to look at the six lovely ladies gliding down the staircase. I had a smile plastered onto my face, suddenly becoming very nervous with all of the eyes on me.

Well, there was no time to think of that. I had to concentrate on _not_ falling down the long, curved, marble staircase.

When we reached the bottom, Helen turned to lead us all the way to the ballroom entrance. There were actually three sets of doors on this side of the hallway, but only the middle set had extremely large, heavy, and intricate double doors. They were shut when we walked up, stopping at our partners' sides, and I could only assume that they were be opened when we were supposed to get in.

Juliano, a ridiculously attractive man in his early thirties from Northern Italy, was my partner for the night.

I was one lucky girl.

He was tall, slightly tan, with almost Isabella-like white blonde hair, and blue eyes. However, he had almost no friendly people skills, as I found out quickly. "Stop smiling," he said almost instantly as I stood at his side. He wasn't even looking at me. "You look ridiculous."

He didn't mean 'ridiculously attractive' like I had thought of him.

My overly wide smile turned into a frown. "Well _so -_rry," I replied, taking his outstretched arm roughly, "I've never done this before, and I'm nervous."

His only response was somewhat of a 'hn' sound.

Yes, _now_ I could see why he had avoided doing anything with our little group of telepaths, and why no one bothered to try to talk him into changing his mind. He was a jerk.

A very good looking jerk.

Well, at least I didn't have to worry about getting into any trouble with Quinn now. It would be one matter to have a partner, who was kinda like my date for the night, who was good looking, personable, and flirtatious while I was around. It was another to have a stoic, cold, rude partner for the night. Maybe Quinn would even pity me.

I didn't have to enjoy my night, just make it through without wanting to punch someone in the face. I would be happy to get through everything with no incidents and a chance to dance with my boyfriend. Then I could say it was a good evening.

"I will take the first shift," Juliano stated, staring directly at the door ahead of him, waiting for it to open. I titled my head to the side, looking at him in confusion.

"Um, what?"

He turned his head to look at me for the first time that I had noticed, a slight scowl on his face and sharp eyes. I wanted to shrink beneath his gaze. "There must be one of us at our seats at all times. I will take the first hour. I have little desire to dance, but I must make my rounds through the mass as well. Return at eleven o'clock, and we will switch for a time."

I just nodded, afraid that my voice would falter if I tried to speak. Dear lord was he intimidating, and he was just a _human_. He was worse than a great deal of the vampires I had met!

Both of us looked straight ahead once more, and two, uniformed guards walked up to stand at either door. I realized, at that moment, that I hadn't noticed these uniforms before around the Palace, but that they had surely been around. It made no sense for the Regina to have such a place with no security. Maybe they had just not wanted people to know that they were being watched?

Also interesting in my opinion was the fact that only one of the guards was a vampire. The other was a Were of some sort.

The vampire nodded to the other guard and both reached out to the door knobs, simultaneously pulling the doors open for our entrance. I was so glad that Helen was leading, because once I saw the room, I didn't think I would have ever have had the capability of entering first.

We walked at a steady pace, the eyes of hundreds of beings on our little group. I could feel the buzzing of so many minds that it actually made me dizzy. I was glad that I had a strong man at my side, because I could feel my grip tightening on him as I used him for a crutch.

There whispers from some, and many more nonverbalized thoughts, showing that people were interested in us. Some wondered why there were so many telepaths here, others were angry that the Regina had already managed to get us under her control. Either way, it was clear that everyone knew exactly who we were and what our roles were here at this gathering.

There was a large path cleared for us as we walked the entire length of the incredibly large ballroom, and then up a few steps to a semi circle against the back of the wall. There were six chairs the looked like thrones or something on the first platform, following the circular shape. Behind them were a few more stairs and a smaller platform with three chairs, the center one being the most elegant and _definitely_ considered a throne.

Juliano and I were at one of the most centered chairs, but to the right of the main throne behind us. Maria and Jacob were at the one about fifteen feet to our left. Each male partner stood on the right side of the chair, and us women on the left.

More than anything, I was really just sort of going with the flow. We had been told by Isabella what we were supposed to do, but we hadn't had a chance to practice or anything since the room still hadn't been completed by the end of the night before. I was just doing whatever it looked like the European telepaths did, since they were more practiced than us.

The whispering continued while we got into place, but a few moments after, when Quinn walked in—looking extremely handsome in his tux—and made an announcement, the room fell eerily quiet.

"Please show your respect for the Regina, Trinity Orestes Vespasian Valentinian, and her daughter, Isabella Vespasian Valentinian," his booming voice called out from the main doors that we had entered through. I tried to catch his attention without making much of a scene, but I guess he didn't see me or something. He turned and walked out without so much as a glance in my direction.

A figure in a low cut, mermaid dress appeared in the entryway first. Desdemona. With one hand on her hip and the other swaying as she walked, she led in the small procession. Isabella was behind her, her hands clasped together in front of her, in a pale blue dress that was also a Grecian style, but more authentic than mine.

Behind her, I assumed, was the elusive Queen of Vampire Europe.

She could have been Isabella's twin, though maybe just a little bit older. But if she were a twin, she'd be the evil one.

Trinity Orestes Vespasian Valentinian had platinum blonde hair pulled up in a tight bun, and a very hard expression on her features, as if she had a permanent scowl. Her eyes were narrowed and she had creases on her skin that made her look distinctly vampire—I had noticed it on others before, usually older ones. It made even the most youthful looking face look older than it should have been, typically from years of frowning.

Despite her regal, purple looking robe-dress (it was like Isabella's, except with more layers and with a pearly colored piece of fabric wrapped around her waist, shoulders, and arm,) she looked absolutely menacing. This was a woman who should _not_ be messed with.

This was a woman who had fought, and _won_, for her right to rule.

As soon as she entered through the doorway, many vampires immediately bowed or curtsied before her. Even some of the Were's bowed as well.

"Cursty," I heard a hiss from my right. I pulled my eyes from the Regina's procession to see Juliano already bowing lowly and holding his position. Scrambling, I grabbed the edges of my skirt and moved into an awkward feeling curtsy. I severely hoped I looked more elegant than I felt at that moment, but I couldn't very well stand up and try to fix it, now that I was already bowed.

Well, I just hoped that this woman would hurry up and sit her royal ass in the throne so that I could stand up again. Holding this curtsy was a bitch.

""

_**A.F: … I know. You're surprised, right? You think this is a dream, don't you? You have now entered… THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Well, not really. Really, what happened, is that TrueBlood came back on, and it made me want to write again. I also did not feel like working on my Gundam Wing story on LiveJournal. Sooo I figured I would update this. This is actually incredibly annoying, seeing as I wrote this chapter, and a few others, a longggg time ago. I just didn't want to rewrite it, and THAT is why I never updated.**_

_**This is actually dedicated to Isis70 and stephanienie since they were the last two to favorite story/alert and really get me moving again. It always amazes me when I see people still reading after all of this time. So I will continue this. Hopefully. **_

_**A special thanks to OposKneg, merryXgirl, Eeyorebcb, Alberta cowgrl, Ckitaguchi, jdcoke (hope you find me again!), Heather, Lizbit, pbarker61, nancy1210, BVern.**_

_**I certainly hope some of you are still with me!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**Aeternus. Flamma (formally the black panther)**_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

After what seemed like forever, and after I already felt like I would need my back cracked by the end of the night, Isabella spoke up. "Please rise," her light voice said, and we moved as a uniform mass, standing up right once more.

All of us telepaths, who were, of course, on the first platform, turned slightly so that our backs were not to the Regina, but also so that we did not awkwardly expose ourselves to the rest of the guests. I placed my hands in front of myself to stop from playing with my skirt or my bracelet, since being in front of so many people made me ansty.

I saw that Edan had also joined the procession. She had probably been behind Trinity, but I hadn't seen since I had to bow and all. She didn't look anything like herself, at least, not the self we had been seeing. She was in a red dress that looked like a costume out of a Queen Elisabeth movie. Most noticeably, however, was the fact that in addition to the blood colored gown, she also wore two swords at each of her sides.

Somehow, I doubted that they were _just for show_.

Had she not looked so sallow (that was on my word of the calendar back home, though I guess she looked more pale than yellowish…) then maybe the girl would have looked pretty attractive. Guess we would never actually know.

With the Regina seated, Isabella stood at her right, and Desdemona sat at the left. Edan stood next to the standing vampire.

After a few moments of silence, the Regina started to speak. It was a language that I did not understand. Latin maybe? No, I had heard some in different churches, and even if it wasn't exactly the same, I didn't think this was Latin. Greek? They were dressed like they had come from Greece way back when, but then I would really have no idea. _Luckily_, Isabella was translating for the rest of us.

"We would like to thank everyone for coming out and attending our event, despite the recent events that have happened throughout this country. It is a risk and I do not think that we could fully show our appreciation—"

She did not get to continue her sentence, at least not at that time. Because, instead, the doors burst open and the mental activity sky rocketed. Anger, hatred, sadness, excitement… it was such a wide mix, but all of it seemed directed at the vampires. And when I saw who was walking in, I really wasn't too surprised.

The Slayers appeared for the first time, well, most of them. It seemed like nothing could surprise me that night, because just as I hadn't been caught off guard by the sudden swarm, I also wasn't surprised to see who was leading them, not really.

Aleister.

When he told me that he usually went through life sneaking up on vampires, I had started to think that he was a Slayer.

One thing that was interesting about this strange group of people was that they weren't in formal attire like the rest of us. Instead, they were in something like military uniforms, kind of like the Regina's guards. There were a few different kinds though—red, yellow, blue, green, and grey jackets. The only thing that I could think resembled these jackets was Terry Bellefleur's dress greens for his army uniform. They were like that, but maybe a little more… revolutionary war-ish.

"Oh, well, good evening Lord Aleister," Isabella said politely, curtsying to _him_. She did not let their sudden interruption cause her to lose her temper. "While we are happy to finally have you join us, you are being rather dramatic, yes? Everyone was invited to gather at 9:30, and spend the night enjoying good food, drink, and company. Everyone, including you and your esteemed companions."

Wow, nice going Isabella.

Seriously, I've had my fair share of dealing with obnoxious people in my time as a waitress, and I think I probably would have put more sarcasm behind my words, or at least made a point to show that my smile was completely fake. She didn't though. She seemed like she was being genuinely sweet to them, even though she probably wanted to tear out their throats, like most of the supes there.

"Well, Isabella," the auburn haired Slayer said, tugging at his red collar nonchalantly, "you have to understand, we're more than a little bit on edge. We've just lost one of our own. We do not take kindly to that."

I opened my mind up, trying to narrow my Hearing to just the group of Slayers who had come in. When I first ran into them, it had been extremely difficult to get any readings on them. Now, well, they were harder than regular humans, but I could read them.

Well, except for one strange void. I didn't know where it was coming from, only that there was just… nothing there.

Anyhow, what I could Hear was along the lines of, "attack, attack, kill, you murderer, my daughter, you [f-word]ing [c-word.]" I didn't even want to repeat it in my head.

"I can understand that—"

"Understand!" A women's voice, similar to the one I was Hearing only moments ago, rang out above Isabella's. It was shrill and hysterical. "She was my _daughter_! You can't _understand_! You may be a mother and a daughter, but you haven't known that kind of love in over a millennia!" If Isabella was going to respond, she wasn't going to get the opportunity.

The woman ran forward, pushing through the Slayer line and then did something… complete strange.

She drew back her arm, throwing a small twig into the air, then clapped her hands together. Thrusting her right hand forward, her palm seemed to glow, or something like that. A green rune appeared out of the tattoo on her skin and shot forward, disappearing into the air.

The small little twig continued to zip through the air towards Isabella and the Regina, turning into something much worse than just the weak stick. The hysterical woman must have been what Helen called an Earth manipulator, because she never said anything about someone who could control plants in particular. The wood lengthened and sharpened, becoming a full on stake.

The vampires in the crowd hissed and jumped back, as far away from the woman as they could, not wanting to suddenly become targets.

My head shot to the side, looking up at the royal vampire pair, wondering why guards weren't rushing up to protect them. Then again, I guess everything _was_ moving pretty fast.

The stake never reached its destination.

Edan took two steps, blocking Trinity in an instant, and withdrew a sword from her left side. As the wood neared, she sliced upward, a line of fire appearing where it cut, as if sparked from the air itself. The stake disintegrated, leaving most of us in awe.

So it was true—proven, now. Edan was a fire manipulator, too bad for the Earth Slayer.

The other Slayers rushed forward to block the woman again, as if preparing for the vampires to start attacking her. But no one moved. No one even tried to attack back.

Isabella looked to her mother, who nodded and waved her hand, saying something else in that old language. "Aleister, if you will, please have this woman sent back to the rooms for the night, and then, in the morning, it would be most appropriate for her to leave. We will not require any sort of punishment nor retribution. Our sympathies truly go out to you and your kin for your loss. However, we had absolutely nothing to do with the attack, and will do this as an effort of good faith."

The Slayer woman was just sobbing her eyes out—so much so, that I even pitied her. I didn't really care a whole lot about what happened to the vampires, but really, I didn't want to go through bloodshed like the Arkansas/Louisiana battle. I would be better off if I never had to see that again.

I was also happy that Isabella had dealt with the matter as calmly as she did. I hoped though, really I did, that the aching mother wouldn't turn up dead in the next few days.

The Slayers turned to face her, a few taking her arms and leading her back out and into the hallway. Aleister continued to stand though, in the center of the room.

"Well then," he said, digging his hands into his pockets, "since we were invited, I think the rest of us will stick around and join the festivities, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. As you said, you were invited. We would just like it if there were no other causes for concern tonight," the platinum blonde woman said politely. Aleister smirked slightly and bowed, waving his arm dramatically, as if to tell her that she could continue.

"Well, I suppose I will pick up then," Isabella said with a slight smile as Edan backed away, returning to her side and allowing her to address everyone once more. "We are very appreciative of your attendance, and our hope is that all negotiation processes will move smoothly. Also, if anyone has any dire concerns or are in need of assistance, we will be having our diplomats placed throughout the Palace during the full duration of our stay. Please feel free to approach them and ask questions about our aid requirements. We would like to help out as many people as we can. We would never turn away one of our own—any of the supernatural kind—in his or her time of need. Thank you, and please enjoy the night."

Curtsying once more, a live band placed against the windows of the room was cued, starting a waltz like song, and a hidden door opposite of the musicians opened to send out a line of waiters with all sorts of dishes. Most impressive, however, was the open bar next to the food tables. It was extremely extensive, most likely for the vampires in the room.

Isabella went to her seat and sat, immediately becoming emerged in conversation with her mother and Desdemona. I didn't waste time staring at them and instead, I looked at the ballroom floor. What had once been a mass of people just standing around changed into individual couples, dancing to the music.

"Return at eleven," Juliano's voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked at my telepath partner for the night, "remember to keep your mind open. We are not here simple to enjoy the music." I slightly rolled my eyes and stepped down from the platform after I saw that Mike and Helen were already at the bottom.

At first, I was happy to be away from the chair that the Italian was now occupying. I didn't feel like so many eyes were on me. But now what?

What was I supposed to do for the next hour? I didn't know where Quinn was, so I couldn't dance. Barry may have also been wandering around, but we weren't talking. Helen had already tracked down someone she knew, and Mike was now scooping up a pretty Were to dance with.

What were there for me?

As I thought that, a particular blonde head caught my attention. Breathing a sigh of relief, I started to swerve in and out of the couples moving to the music and placed a hand on his arm. "Oh, Eric, thank God, I—"

Well, this was embarrassing.

The tall, Norwegian looking blonde turned around when I grabbed him, and to my horror, it was most definitely _not_ the vampire I was looking for.

The tuxedoed male looked at me with a playful smile on his lips, and, surprisingly enough, it actually looked like it fit. For a vampire, he had a very natural, charming smile, even if I could see his fangs. He resembled Eric, though maybe slightly older in appearance, and had probably also been a Viking during his lifetime.

"Eric? No, no, child, you have wrong Norse," he said with a laugh. I pulled back, blushing furiously from my mistake, but also with a slight anger, thinking he was mocking me. He titled his head, almost like a bow, before he continued speaking. "I am Thor. It is amusing you call me Eric—usually it is _he_ who is mistaken for _me_!"

Thor. I had heard that name before. Desdemona had mentioned it to Eric when she was talking about giving out her _treats_. Eric also didn't seem to like hearing that name, from what I could tell.

There were vampire women around him, already holding glasses of what was hopefully True Blood, smirking at me. One stepped forward, still grinning cruelly at me, "Thor, darling, she's embarrassed. Send her on her way and let's dance," a red head said, trying to block my way. While I thought it was incredibly rude, I wasn't about to object. I was totally okay just being… sent on my way.

"No, Charlotte," he replied quickly, and sternly, but maintaining his smile, "go find someone else." He raised his hand, waving her away. Frowning, she glared at me in a snobbish manner and turned on her heel, seeking a dance partner elsewhere. "Please, join me." Thor lowered his hand and offered if for me to take.

I looked around, hoping that someone would come along as save me from this incredibly awkward situation, but it looked like I was on my own. I was in a sea of strangers with no one at my side. I could not turn down the vampire without severely offending him, which I felt would put me in a bad spot.

So, with my shoulders tensing up, I nodded and placed my hand in his, allowing him to lead me back to the dance floor from which I had just escaped.

""

_**A. F: Once again, I bet you are all in disbelief. How often is it that I not only update, but I update within, like, three months? Seems like never, I know. And yet here I am, sending out another chapter. **_

_**Actually, I'm sitting on a train at this moment, heading home from a small vacation to see my college friend. With little else to do, I decided to sit here, enjoy the passing scenery of the Pennsylvania country side, and write for you all. We'll see how long my laptop battery lasts.**_

_**So, I'm more than slightly confused. How is it that I can get over 1000 hits within eighteen hours of updating, but I only get one review? C'mon guys! I know you're reading! Send me a message! Let me know what you think! I truly strive off of the feedback. It's the only reason I continue writing sometimes. When my readers inspire me, I'm more likely to write.**_

_**Well, anyhow, thanks for reading! REVIEWWWWW**_

_**[PS- striving for 30000 hits with this chapter. I'm up to almost 29000 now.]  
**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Dead As Dead Can Be**_

_**Aeternus. Flamma (formally the black panther)**_

_**Rated T for now**_

_**Post **__**All Together Dead**__** Sookie Stackhouse has returned from her last adventure, set on avoiding vampires for the rest of her life, and getting everything back on track. Do things go as planned? Do they ever? The undead jump back into her life, but this time, because they fear their own demise.**_

""

The tall vampire seemed to just glide as he moved, and many made way for him. He must have had quite the name and reputation, because no one dared try to get in the middle of his path. We settled in almost the dead center of the ballroom, much to my dismay, where I noticed that there were other powerful vampires dancing—Stan, the Texas King, for example, was just a few yards away from me, dancing with a woman. I couldn't help but wonder if his husband was jealous.

"So," Thor started to say to me, catching my attention and causing me to look up at him, "you know Eric Northman? Are you from this wonderful state then?" He placed one hand at my waist, clasping the other gently, and began guiding me along.

"I, uh, well, yes, I am. He's a friend of mine, and I was looking for him…"

So were all European vampires this nice? Isabella, and now Thor? It seemed like it was just the ones who lived in great U.S. of A. that decided to be just jerks. But obviously appearances could be deceptive.

"It would be just like him to have such a lovely telepath as a friend," he said and twirled me around smoothly, "well, I'm sure it won't take too long for him to search you out now."

"Why is that, Mr. Thor?" I didn't like the way he talked about Eric and me. It almost seemed like beneath his words, he was suggesting that there was something more going on.

"Please, please, just Thor. I've never gone by _mister_ in my entire life. Or death, I suppose, for that matter," he answered with a slight chuckle, "and what I mean, is that if he's asking around about you, then it won't take long for others to tell him that I am dancing with you. He will be at your side within moments. He will be afraid that I will sweep you off your feet and steal you from him."

Ah, okay.

So perhaps these two had somewhat of a history together—one in which Eric was always shown up by the other Viking. It was almost hard to believe that Eric would ever be in the shadow of someone, but that was the kind of feeling that I was getting.

We did not continue to talk. What could we talk about? I didn't want to talk about Eric to this vampire, I mean, what if I said something that I wasn't supposed to? He would be _so_ angry at me, and I really didn't want to deal with that.

As the song ended, I suddenly felt another hand place itself on my shoulder. I jumped and turned around, Thor's hands slipping off of me.

"Sookie," Eric's voice came, much to my enjoyment, "I see you've met Thor." He was annoyed. I could tell. It was that voice he used when he was being too calm for a situation that

"So your name is Sookie," replied the other vampire, backing up and putting his hands into his pockets with a bemused smile, "what a wonderfully unique name for a child such as yourself. It was a pleasure meeting with you, Sookie, and I enjoyed out dance. Now that you are in safe hands, I bid you good night."

I nodded and returned the wishes of good night, turning around to face Eric. "Well, I certainly thought that maybe he was going to cause a ruckus with you," I said with a slight smile, looking up to my savior. He was watching Thor leave with narrowed eyes.

"I'm sure he will, but he will do it later, when you are not around, and when more ranking vampires can witness the confrontation," Eric muttered before taking my hand and pulling me into another dance. I really wasn't in the mood for dancing with anyone other than Quinn, but apparently I didn't have much of a choice. "Be sure to be on your guard. We are anticipating an appearance by the Fellowship."

"What, _really_?" I wanted to stomp my foot and tell everyone that there could be no more trouble for the night. If only I had that sort of power. "First the Slayers, now the Fellowship? Great, just great."

"There is nothing you can do, so I suggest you not throw a fit over it," he told me off cooly. I nodded my head, of course knowing that there was no point in me getting annoyed over it. But I was still glad he at least gave me a heads up so that I could be prepared.

"Have you seen Quinn?" I asked, changing the subject quickly. Eric raised a brow, as if wondering whether or not he wanted to answer truthfully.

"I have seen him."

"Well, where is he?"

"Here—there—everywhere. It seems that there was an issue about possibly contaminated True Blood, so there was an emergency order shipped in. It's still arriving, so I believe he is taking care of that," he responded. It was my turn to raise a brow.

"Oh really?"

Eric, with a sudden change in the amount of force he was using on me to dance, dipped me back, holding me there for a moment. "If I wanted to lie to you, Sookie, I could tell you something much more believable. That is the truth, however."

My breath caught in my throat as he securely held me in my position. If he dropped me, it would hurt. I had relative confidence that he would not, however. His blue eyes looked into my own, waiting for a response. When I didn't answer right away, because I knew he was absolutely right, he cocked his head to the side, lifting me again and moving back into the dance.

"Well, then, what was it contaminated by?" I asked, trying to lighten the conversation once more.

"I am unsure. If the information is true, then all you need to know is that it was intentional contamination, an act by the Fellowship," said Eric. I started to notice that he was deliberately dancing us towards the edge of the crowd and away from the center. I was alright with that. I didn't exactly like being closed in by vampires all around me.

"How did you guys find out?" Of course, once I spoke, I realized how stupid of a question that really was. Eric did not pick up on it, well, at least, if he _did_, then he didn't pester me about it. He answered promptly.

"The Frenchman, Jacob, he apparently Heard it and passed it along to the tiger. From what I have gathered, he is the most powerful out of the Regina's telepathic entourage," he explained to me, answering the second question I had—why had only Jacob known—without me even having to ask it. "Once again, Sookie, just be on your guard. I would be very unhappy if anything happened to you."

"Right, because you'd be out a 'pretty telepathic friend,'" I muttered, quoting Thor's words.

"There is that, and I would be overall unhappy to lose someone I cared about because they had not heeded my warnings." I didn't know what to say to Eric when he spoke so sincerely. I hated when he did that. He always made me feel so guilty. He leaned over to whisper in my ear, saying, "do _not_ trust the Regina. She may give you fancy clothes, she may surround you by supposedly nice people, and she may make you feel completely comfortable, but _never_ trust her." Finishing, he placed a kiss on my cheek and then backed away, slipping into the crowd.

Turning around, slightly in a daze from his warning and all, I made my way to the side of the ballroom, leaning against the wall and sighing.

He was right. It was like I was being lulled into a false sense of security.

Boy did I hate vampires.

For the next half hour, I spent the majority of my time by the open bar, sipping on glasses of wine and doing my job. Really, all that I had found out was that there were a few more demons around who were disappointed that the Slayer woman had not been torn to shreds, that there were some humans around serving as voices from the fairy population (obviously the fairies couldn't be around the vampires,) and that there were some young Weres who felt like hot stuff, all dressed up with European vampires and shifters hitting on them.

Absolutely nothing useful.

"Ah, Miss Stackhouse—" a familiar voice came up beside me, causing me to momentarily choke on my wine, "—how good to see you again. Don't you look lovely. I think you would make the lilies envious now if you were to take a walk out to the gardens again. Are you okay?" He pat me on my back, 'helping' to ease my breathing.

"Aleister," I coughed, "you have a habit of scaring me. And, wait, I _never_ told you my name."

He shrugged and smiled, "you're a telepath. We knew the names of everyone who was attending in the Queen Bitch's posse a long time ago. We did try to kidnap you after all, or did you forget?"

"So you're admitting to it?"

"Sure, why not? You can't touch us, nor can your blonde vampire friend, nor can your boyfriend the Were Tiger. No one can do a thing to us for trying to capture you. The hellion already killed the Slayers who were with you, and that's the end of it. Done and over with," he said, bringing a whiskey glass to his lips, finishing with an _'ah.'_

"Aren't you blunt," I muttered and started to scoot away from him.

"It's part of my charm. Care to dance?" He placed the glass down on a waiter's tray as the hired help walked on by, and offered me his hand. I'm sure my eyes went wide in panic as I glanced around, looking for anyway to escape.

Luckily, I could see Juliano staring at me from the chair up on the platform. Perfect, my escape route.

"You know what, as much as I would love to, I've got to get going. Duty calls and off, because, as you already know, I'm working for the Regina… things to do… people to see… you know, that sort of thing," I laughed in a pitch that was totally not natural for me. He shrugged.

"Hey, suit yourself, though you don't need to lie about it. I'm not a vampire, you're not going to offend me and cause me to tear your throat out. If you want to say no, then say no," Aleister responded with a smile and a shrug. He really didn't seem overly concerned with my response.

"I, um, well, fine. No. You scare the hell out of me, and I don't think I could dance with you. But I really do have to go work now," I said, downing my glass of wine, discarding it with a waiter, and then stiffly walking away to the steps.

I walked up, standing in front of Juliano. "Is that Slayer still watching me?" I asked in a hushed voice, trying my hardest to keep my head from turning and looking back on its own. Juliano's eyes barely flickered in Aleister's direction, but he answered nonetheless.

"Yes."

"Ah, okay. Can I take over early? I told him I couldn't dance because I had to work. I know I still have ten more minutes, but please, _please_, don't make me go back down there," I practically begged him. A passing look of annoyance covered his face, but then he masked it again.

This guy had to be a big businessman or politician or something back in Italy, he was so good at looking completely indifferent.

"Fine. I return at my leisure then as well," he replied, standing up from our shared seat and then waiting for me to sit he stepped down to join the party.

I sighed, thankful to be left alone again, even if I was in the easy view of everyone. No one seemed to be paying much attention though, which was a start to making me feel more comfortable. I allowed my eyes to close, and then put my head back.

What I've found with these telepathic-gem-things is that the key to using them is to be relaxed. It was easier to weed out the thoughts when I wasn't stiff and uncomfortable. Everything just seemed to… flow better.

So that's what I did. I allowed myself to get as comfortable as I could from my position slightly above the dance floor and let the minds flow through me like river, slowly trickling out the unimportant ones. Even if it was weird to be listening into others with all of them fully knowing that it was my job to do so, it was better than being in the crowd, dealing with creepy men.

Because, of course, it seemed like everyone wanted to come talk or dance with me except for my own boyfriend.

Okay, not _everyone_, but you know what I mean…

Ah, but wait, there it was, exactly what I was searching for.

For the briefest of moments though, something caught me. I sat up quickly, my eyes shooting open, and looking around, hoping to Hear it again. But the moment I became tense, the voices over whelmed me, and I lost it. I had to sit back in a slight slump, holding my hand to my head, forcing everything else away.

But I had Heard it. I know I had.

"_if only that telepath hadn't walked in… the vampires would have been blamed… I almost regret killing one of my own."_

""

_**A. F: well, I hope you guys are enjoying this. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of the direction this is going in anymore haha. I knew I would have this problem when I picked back up. I forget what I was doing after so long, so I have to try to put the pieces back together and go from there. But I've been able to manage before. I kind know what I'm doing, but not everything… **_

_**Anyhow, let me know your thoughts. I'd be interested to hear.**_


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